Estate Planning in Canada: What Actually Needs Doing

The four documents

Only the first is a will. The other three fail quietly and are the ones most often skipped.

• A will — who inherits, who administers, and who raises your children.
• A continuing power of attorney for property — who manages your money if you cannot.
• A power of attorney for personal care — who makes medical decisions, plus your end-of-life and burial wishes.
• A record of where everything is — assets, accounts, policies, digital access, and the location of the original will.

The half of your estate a will does not control

A will governs the estate. It does not govern assets that never enter the estate — and in most Canadian families those represent the majority of the value.

• RRSP, RRIF, TFSA and pensions with a named beneficiary.
• Life insurance and segregated funds naming an individual.
• Any property held in joint tenancy, including the family home.
• Assets already transferred into a trust.

What this means for an Islamic distribution

The fixed shares apply to the net estate. An asset that passes by designation or survivorship is never divided by them.

So a family can calculate the shares correctly, have a lawyer draft them properly, sign everything correctly — and still have most of the wealth pass outside the plan. The designations have to be reviewed alongside the will, not after it.

The review triggers

An estate plan is not a one-time document. Revisit it after any of these.

• Marriage, divorce or separation.
• A birth or a death in the family.
• Buying property, or changing how it is held.
• Starting or selling a business.
• Moving between provinces — particularly to British Columbia, where the grounds for challenging a will are much wider.
• Otherwise, every three to five years.

Common questions

How much does a will cost in Canada?

A straightforward will from a lawyer typically runs a few hundred dollars. Flat-fee estate work is widely available, and the cost is trivial against a contested estate.

Can I use an online will service?

For a simple estate, sometimes. They are not built to express conditional fractional shares, which is what a faraid distribution requires.

Do I need a lawyer and a scholar?

Usually both, answering different questions. The scholar confirms the shares for your family; the lawyer makes them enforceable in your province.

What happens if I do nothing?

Provincial intestacy applies. Parents typically receive nothing, sons and daughters take equally, and a surviving spouse takes a large fixed share first.