A faraid distribution gives a daughter half a son’s share. Whether that can be challenged in Alberta — and by whom — is the question every Muslim family planning an estate here should ask before signing.
The Alberta position
| Item | Alberta |
|---|---|
| Governing statute | Wills and Succession Act |
| Court | Court of King's Bench of Alberta |
| Handwritten (holograph) wills | Valid |
| Probate cost | Flat fees by estate value band, capped at $525 — among the lowest in Canada. An estate of $300,000 and an estate of $30 million pay the same $525. |
| Spouse’s share on intestacy | Where all children are also the spouse’s, the spouse takes the entire estate. Where they are not, the spouse takes the greater of $150,000 or 50% of the net estate. [confirm against the statute] |
| Will registry | No central government will registry. [confirm against the statute] |
| Claims against the estate | Family maintenance and support claims under the Wills and Succession Act. |
Who can bring a claim
- Dependants who were being supported and were not adequately provided for.
- Spouses, including through family-property entitlements that operate independently of the will.
- Adult children — in British Columbia specifically, even where independent.
Alberta does not have BC’s section 60 wills-variation regime, under which an independent adult child can apply to rewrite a will. The exposure here is narrower — but dependant support claims still apply.
Reducing the risk
- Record the religious reasoning in a memorandum kept with the will.
- Provide for genuine dependants adequately, whatever the fixed shares say.
- Consider lifetime gifts and designations, which are harder to disturb — but take tax advice.
- Get provincial advice before signing. This is the clause that gets litigated.
Common questions
Can a will be challenged just because it follows Islamic shares?
Not on that basis alone. Claims succeed on statutory grounds — inadequate provision for a dependant, or in BC for a spouse or child — not because a distribution is religious.
Does writing down my reasons help?
It can. A memorandum explaining the reasoning is evidence a court may weigh, though in BC the Grewal decision shows cultural or religious reasoning is not by itself decisive.
Are lifetime gifts safer than bequests?
They are generally harder to disturb, but they carry immediate tax consequences and can still be examined. Take tax and legal advice before moving assets.
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.
- What to do when someone has died — Canada Revenue Agency
- Wills and Succession Act, SA 2010, c W-12.2 — Alberta King's Printer
- Probate fees by province / territory — TaxTips.ca
- Surah an-Nisa 4:11–12, 4:176 — Quran.com
- Book of Wills (Wasaya) — Sahih al-Bukhari, Sunnah.com
- How matrimonial home value calculated equalization — Treadstone Law
- Matrimonial home pension not included — Treadstone Law
- Tfsa withdraw recontribute same year over contribution — Treadstone Law
- Can a will override beneficiary designation ontario — Treadstone Law
- Freezing estate assets pending will challenge ontario — Treadstone Law
- Is cottage a matrimonial home ontario — Treadstone Law
- Wills & estates practice — Treadstone Law
- Religion by census metropolitan area, 2021 Census — Statistics Canada