Dying without a will in Alberta hands the distribution to a statutory formula. For a Muslim family this is the single most common way an estate ends up divided contrary to faraid.
What Alberta does
| 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 of the intestate’s descendants are also descendants of the surviving spouse (or adult interdependent partner), that person takes the entire estate. Where any descendant is not, they take the greater of $150,000 or 50% of the net estate, and the residue passes to the descendants. The $150,000 is not in the Act, which says only “the greater of the prescribed amount or 50%” — it is fixed by regulation. Alberta’s adult interdependent partners — unlike Ontario common-law partners — inherit on the same footing as a spouse. |
| Will registry | No general government will registry. The Government of Alberta states plainly: “There is no will registry in Alberta.” Two narrow exceptions: the Public Trustee may store a will for safekeeping if the will belongs to a Public Trustee client or names the Public Trustee as personal representative; and an international will may be registered with the Office of the Public Guardian and Trustee, which records only who to contact — “it does not contain the original or a copy of an international will.” |
| Claims against the estate | Family maintenance and support claims under the Wills and Succession Act. |
Why it does not match faraid
Provincial intestacy schemes are built around the surviving spouse and descendants. Faraid distributes more widely — parents take a share alongside children, and siblings can inherit in their own right. Three mismatches recur:
- Parents. Under faraid each parent generally takes one sixth where the deceased left children. Provincial intestacy usually gives parents nothing while a spouse and children survive.
- The spouse’s portion. Faraid fixes a wife at one eighth with children; a preferential share can hand a spouse the great majority of a modest estate.
- Sons and daughters. Provincial law divides equally among children; faraid gives a son twice a daughter’s share.
| Position | Hanafi | Maliki | Shafi’i | Hanbali |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Share of a daughter | Half a son’s share | Half a son’s share | Half a son’s share | Half a son’s share |
| Wife, with children | One eighth | One eighth | One eighth | One eighth |
| Wife, no children | One quarter | One quarter | One quarter | One quarter |
| Husband, with children | One quarter | One quarter | One quarter | One quarter |
| Husband, no children | One half | One half | One half | One half |
| Bequest cap (wasiyyah) | One third | One third | One third | One third |
| Bequest to a fixed heir | Needs heirs’ consent | Needs heirs’ consent | Needs heirs’ consent | Needs heirs’ consent |
| Distant kin (dhawu al-arham) | Inherit | Classically to the treasury | Classically to the treasury | Inherit |
| Surplus returned (radd) | Yes | Classically no | Classically no | Yes |
None of this is fixed by intention. Only a valid will — that can be found — changes the outcome.
A worked example: a $600,000 estate
Take a man who dies leaving a wife, two sons, one daughter and his mother, with a net estate of $600,000 after debts and funeral expenses. Here is what Alberta does if he left no will, and what faraid does.
Under Alberta intestacy law
| Heir | Basis | Amount |
|---|---|---|
| Surviving spouse | The whole estate — every child is also the surviving spouse’s child, so the children take nothing on the intestacy | $600,000 |
| 3 children | Nothing: the estate passes entirely to the surviving parent | $0 |
| Mother | Nothing — a parent does not inherit while a spouse and children survive | $0 |
Statutory basis: s. 61 (1)(a).
- An adult interdependent partner can inherit in Alberta where a married spouse would (s. 61), which is unusual in Canada: three years of interdependence, or a relationship of some permanence with a child, or a signed partner agreement (AIRA s. 3 (1)).
Under faraid
| Heir | Qur’anic share | Amount |
|---|---|---|
| Wife | One eighth with children | $75,000 |
| Mother | One sixth — children or two or more siblings survive | $100,000 |
| Sons (2, shared) | Residue as asabah, two shares each | $340,000 |
| Daughter | Residue as asabah, one share each | $85,000 |
Because every child is also his wife’s, Alberta gives her the entire estate. His mother receives nothing, and so do all three of his children. Under faraid the same estate divides among all five heirs, with his mother taking $100,000 and each son twice a daughter’s share. This is the widest gap between faraid and any Canadian intestacy formula, and it is the ordinary case — a first marriage with children of that marriage.
Figures are rounded to whole dollars and illustrate the structure only. Real estates involve debts, taxes, designations and jointly held property that change the arithmetic substantially.
Common questions
Do common-law partners inherit?
It depends on the province, and the differences are large. Some provinces treat a qualifying common-law partner as a spouse for intestacy; Ontario does not.
Do my parents inherit if I die without a will?
Generally not, if you leave a spouse or children. This is one of the sharpest departures from faraid, where each parent normally takes one sixth where the deceased left children.
Does an intestate estate get divided equally between sons and daughters?
Yes — provincial law divides equally among children. Faraid gives a son twice a daughter's share.
Citations & sources
Every factual claim on this page traces to a source below. Details change — check the original source before relying on any figure, fee or legal position. Anything under “further reading” is related material, not a source for what is stated here.
- What to do when someone has died — Canada Revenue Agency
- Wills and Succession Act, SA 2010, c W-12.2 — Alberta King's Printer
- Preferential Share (Intestate Estates) Regulation, Alta Reg 217/2011, s. 1 — Alberta King's Printer
- Surah an-Nisa 4:11–12, 4:176 — Quran.com
- Book of Wills (Wasaya) — Sahih al-Bukhari, Sunnah.com
- Religion by census metropolitan area, 2021 Census — Statistics Canada
- Preferential share spouse intestacy ontario — Treadstone Law
- Holograph handwritten will ontario — Treadstone Law
- What is preferential share ontario intestacy — Treadstone Law
- Can common law partner inherit without a will ontario — Treadstone Law
- Does common law spouse inherit without will ontario — Treadstone Law
- Wills & estates practice — Treadstone Law