What to Do When Someone Dies in Canada

The first 24 hours

Almost nothing administrative can happen yet, and for a Muslim family the funeral is already underway. These are the only things that matter on day one.

Everything else — banks, probate, tax — waits. Trying to do it now produces mistakes that are expensive to unwind.

1. Get the funeral director's statement of death. Ask for at least ten copies; every institution wants one.
2. Contact a funeral home experienced with Muslim burial, and your masjid's funeral coordinator.
3. Arrange ghusl, kafan and salat al-janazah.
4. Find the original will before anything is cleared out or moved.
5. Take the funeral invoice to the deceased's bank — most will release funds for funeral costs specifically, even before probate.
6. Do not distribute or give away anything, however small or obvious it seems.

The first week

Once the burial is done, the administrative work begins. The order matters because several steps depend on the ones before them.

1. Register the death — the funeral director normally does this, producing the provincial death certificate.
2. Locate the will, confirm it is the most recent, and read who is named as executor.
3. Notify Service Canada, the provincial health authority, and cancel the SIN, passport and driver's licence to prevent identity fraud.
4. Notify banks, insurers and pension administrators.
5. Secure the property — change locks if necessary, confirm home insurance still covers a vacant dwelling.
6. Open a dedicated estate bank account. Never mix estate funds with your own.

The first months

This is where the timeline stretches. Probate itself may take weeks; the tax clearance that follows commonly takes months, and it is the step that holds up distribution.

1. Apply for probate if the institutions holding the assets require it.
2. Inventory and value everything at the date of death, with professional appraisals for real property and business interests.
3. Publish a notice to creditors.
4. Pay funeral expenses, then debts, then taxes.
5. File the deceased's final return, and a T3 return if the estate earns income.
6. Request a CRA clearance certificate.
7. Distribute, obtain signed releases, and keep the records for several years.

The Islamic order of payment

Classical fiqh sets a sequence that Canadian administration follows closely in practice: funeral expenses first, then debts, then the bequest capped at one third, then the fixed shares.

Two items are easy to miss because Canadian law does not recognise them as debts. Unpaid or deferred mahr is owed to the widow and ranks with other creditors. Outstanding zakat is treated by many scholars as a debt of the estate — but it will only be paid if the will directs it or the heirs agree.

• Funeral and burial expenses.
• Debts, including unpaid mahr and zakat arrears.
• The wasiyyah, capped at one third of what remains.
• The faraid shares among the fixed heirs.

Common questions

Can we pay for the funeral before probate?

Usually yes. Most Canadian financial institutions release funds from the deceased's account for funeral costs specifically, on production of the invoice and a statement of death. This matters more for Muslim families than most, because burial happens within a day.

How many death certificates do we need?

More than you expect. Banks, insurers, the land registry, CRA and pension administrators each want one. Ten copies is not excessive.

What if we cannot find the will?

Search properly and document every step — it becomes the affidavit of diligent search a court requires before treating the estate as intestate. Contact every lawyer the deceased used, check safety deposit boxes at all their banks, and search will registries.

Do we have to use a lawyer?

Not legally, but most executors do for anything beyond a simple estate, and the fees are an estate expense rather than a personal one.