Northwest Territories gives you broad freedom to decide who inherits — which is precisely why an Islamic will works here. What Northwest Territories will not do is apply faraid on your behalf. If you die without a will, the province applies its own formula, and that formula does not resemble the Qur’anic shares.
The Northwest Territories facts that matter
| Item | Northwest Territories |
|---|---|
| Governing statute | Wills Act and Intestate Succession Act |
| Court | Supreme Court of the Northwest Territories |
| Handwritten (holograph) wills | Valid [confirm against the statute] |
| Probate cost | Modest fees charged by value band. [confirm against the statute] |
| Spouse’s share on intestacy | A preferential share applies before division with issue. [confirm against the statute] |
| Will registry | No central government will registry. [confirm against the statute] |
| Claims against the estate | Dependants relief legislation applies. [confirm against the statute] |
Yellowknife has a small Muslim community and one of Canada’s northernmost mosques.
The fixed shares, and where the madhahib differ
The four Sunni schools agree on the core fractions. They diverge on what happens at the edges — distant relatives, and surplus where the fixed shares do not exhaust the estate.
| 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 |
The classical Maliki and Shafi‘i view directs a surplus, and the estate of someone with only distant kin, to the bayt al-mal — the public treasury. No such institution operates in Canada, and later scholars in both schools generally permit radd and inheritance by distant relatives in that situation. Confirm the position with a scholar for your own family.
What to actually do in Northwest Territories
- Have a will drafted that is valid under Wills Act and Intestate Succession Act and sets out the shares you intend.
- Review every beneficiary designation — RRSP, RRIF, TFSA, pension, life insurance. These pass outside the will and can defeat the whole plan.
- Check how the family home is held. Joint tenancy passes by survivorship, outside the estate.
- Name a guardian for minor children.
- Record where the original will is kept, so it can be found.
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 Northwest Territories does if he left no will, and what faraid does.
Under Northwest Territories intestacy law
| Heir | Basis | Amount |
|---|---|---|
| Spouse | Takes the entire estate where all children are also the spouse’s; otherwise a preferential share applies first | Most or all |
| Mother | Nothing while a spouse and children survive | $0 |
| Each child | Equal shares of whatever remains — sons and daughters alike | Equal |
Exact figures depend on the provincial threshold and on whether all children are also the surviving spouse’s. Confirm against the statute.
Under faraid
| Heir | Qur’anic share | Amount |
|---|---|---|
| Wife | One eighth | $75,000 |
| Mother | One sixth | $100,000 |
| Son (each of two) | Residue, two shares | $170,000 |
| Daughter | Residue, one share | $85,000 |
His mother receives nothing under the provincial formula and $100,000 under faraid. Provincial intestacy schemes are built around the spouse and descendants; they do not recognise a parent’s fixed share at all while a spouse and children survive. No amount of intention changes this — only a valid will does.
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
Does a Canadian will have to follow faraid?
No. Canadian law does not require any particular distribution — it permits you to choose one. That is why the shares have to be written into a valid will rather than assumed.
Is an Islamic will from another country valid here?
Not automatically. A will has to satisfy the formal requirements of the province where the estate is administered, and foreign wills often fail on witnessing. Take advice before relying on one.
What happens to my RRSP and life insurance?
They pass to whoever is named as beneficiary, outside the will and outside the estate. This is the most common way a carefully drafted Islamic will gets defeated in practice.
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
- 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
- What triggers full zoning amendment vs minor variance ontario — Treadstone Law
- Updating estate trustee in will ontario — Treadstone Law
- Trust reporting rules disclose beneficiaries — Treadstone Law
- Does ontario require a notarized will — Treadstone Law
- Poa property vs will difference ontario — Treadstone Law
- Vexatious litigant designation family court ontario — Treadstone Law
- Wills & estates practice — Treadstone Law
- Religion by census metropolitan area, 2021 Census — Statistics Canada