The everyday name for written instructions about medical care if you cannot speak for yourself. It is not a will, and in Canada it is not a legal term of art.
In Islamic law
This is where end-of-life and burial instructions belong, not in the will. A will is frequently not opened until after burial, while Islamic practice buries within a day — so anything about ghusl, kafan, janazah or burial recorded only in the will arrives too late to be acted on. On withholding or withdrawing treatment, scholars distinguish declining futile intervention, which many permit, from actively ending life, which is prohibited across the four schools. Positions on the detail differ, and it is a contemporary ijtihad question rather than a settled classical one.
In Canadian law
No Canadian province has an instrument actually called a living will. What people mean by it is done through two documents: a power of attorney for personal care, which names the person who decides for you, and an advance directive setting out your wishes. British Columbia uses a representation agreement. Because the instruments are provincial, a document drafted in one province may not operate cleanly in another. Critically, a living will has no effect whatever on property — it stops working the moment you die, which is exactly when your will starts.
Across the madhahib
The four Sunni schools do not differ on the prohibition against actively ending life. Where they and contemporary scholars diverge is on withdrawing treatment that is futile or unduly burdensome — a question to settle with a scholar in advance, because the decision is made in hours.
Canadian legal detail
Treadstone Law, an Ontario firm with a wills and estates practice, covers the Canadian side of this in more depth:
- Poa personal care faith based facility ontario
- Poa personal care religious beliefs ontario
- Guardianship of property ontario when theres no poa
This is legal information only. For advice on your own circumstances, speak to a lawyer.
Citations & sources
Every factual claim on this page traces to one of the references below. Legislation and dollar thresholds change — verify against the primary source before relying on any figure.
- International Islamic Fiqh Academy — Organisation of Islamic Cooperation
- Egyptian Dar al-Ifta — Dar al-Ifta al-Missriyyah
- Substitute Decisions Act, 1992 — Government of Ontario
- What to do when someone dies — Government of Ontario
- Canadian Legal Information Institute — CanLII
- Reporting poa abuse public guardian trustee ontario — Treadstone Law
- Non resident buyer power of attorney remote closing ontario — Treadstone Law
- General vs continuing power of attorney ontario — Treadstone Law
- Combined estate plan poa and will ontario — Treadstone Law
- Can i sell property under power of attorney ontario — Treadstone Law
- Wills & estates practice — Treadstone Law