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Intestacy

Dying without a valid will, so provincial statute decides who inherits.

Draft — pending review. This page has been prepared but has not yet been reviewed by a Canadian estates lawyer or a qualified scholar. Treat it as a starting point for questions, not as advice you should act on.

Dying without a valid will, so provincial statute decides who inherits.

In Islamic law

Dying intestate in Canada is the single most common way a Muslim estate ends up distributed contrary to faraid. The statutory formula does not resemble the Qur'anic shares, and it gives nothing to parents or siblings while a spouse and children survive.

In Canadian law

In Ontario the Succession Law Reform Act applies. A surviving married spouse takes a preferential share — $350,000 for deaths on or after 1 March 2021 — then splits the residue with children: half each where there is one child, one third to the spouse where there are two or more. Only legally married spouses inherit on intestacy; common-law partners do not.

Across the madhahib

No significant difference between the four Sunni schools is recorded on this point in the sources reviewed. Where a specific case turns on it, ask a qualified scholar rather than relying on a general summary.

Canadian legal detail

Treadstone Law, an Ontario firm with a wills and estates practice, covers the Canadian side of this in more depth:

Important

This entry is general information, not legal or religious advice. Inheritance turns on the exact family circumstances. Confirm Canadian law with a lawyer in your province, and any religious ruling with a qualified scholar.