A faraid distribution gives a daughter half a son’s share. Whether that can be challenged in Ontario — and by whom — is the question every Muslim family planning an estate here should ask before signing.
The Ontario position
| Item | Ontario |
|---|---|
| Governing statute | Succession Law Reform Act |
| Court | Superior Court of Justice |
| Handwritten (holograph) wills | Valid |
| Probate cost | Estate Administration Tax: nil on the first $50,000, then about $15 per $1,000 of value above that (roughly 1.5%). A Small Estate Certificate is available for estates of $150,000 or less. |
| Spouse’s share on intestacy | $350,000 for deaths on or after 1 March 2021 ($200,000 before that date). |
| Will registry | No central, searchable government registry of wills — the Government of Ontario’s own guidance points only to “private” will registries and to the court records of the courthouse nearest where the deceased lived. A living person may deposit a will with the Superior Court registrar for safekeeping (Estates Act, s. 2; $28), and after death anyone may inspect it on proof of death. But the public cannot search Ontario-wide: only the registrar can, and only when someone applies for probate, at which point the court must confirm no later will is on deposit anywhere in the Superior Court. That is the gap a registry fills. |
| Claims against the estate | Dependant support claims under Part V of the Succession Law Reform Act. Ontario does not have a BC-style wills variation regime for independent adult children. |
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.
Ontario 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 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
- Succession Law Reform Act, RSO 1990, c S.26 — Government of Ontario
- 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
- Disabled adult child never lived with deceased dependant ontario — Treadstone Law
- Adult child dependant support claim ontario — Treadstone Law
- Common law spouse dependant support claim ontario — Treadstone Law
- Holograph handwritten will ontario — Treadstone Law
- Estranged adult child dependant support claim ontario — Treadstone Law
- Wills & estates practice — Treadstone Law