Islamic Wills in Quebec

Making an Islamic will that works in Quebec

An Islamic will is not a separate legal instrument. It is an ordinary Quebec will whose distribution clauses set out the faraid shares. Two things have to be right at once: the fractions, and Quebec’s formalities.

Handwritten wills: Valid. Quebec recognises three forms: notarial, holograph, and witnessed wills.

Probate: No probate tax based on the value of the estate. A notarial will requires no probate at all because it is an authentic act. A holograph will or a will made in the presence of witnesses must be probated, before either the Superior Court or a notary, and a flat judicial fee of $241 applies (plus $60.25 to file the notary’s minutes where the notarial route is used). Notary or lawyer fees are separate and professional.

If you die without a will in Quebec

There is no preferential dollar amount in Quebec. Two things happen before the succession is divided: the family patrimony is partitioned and the matrimonial or civil union regime is liquidated. What is left devolves by fractions — where the deceased leaves a spouse and descendants, the spouse takes one third and the descendants two thirds; with no descendants but surviving parents, the spouse takes two thirds; with no descendants, parents, siblings or nieces/nephews, the spouse takes everything. IMPORTANT AND NEW: since 30 June 2025 a "parental union spouse" — an unmarried couple who become the parents of a child born or adopted on or after that date — is an heir alongside married and civil union spouses. Other de facto spouses still inherit nothing on intestacy.

That distribution is set by statute and it will not match the faraid shares. How Quebec’s intestacy rules diverge from faraid ›

Can the will be challenged?

Quebec has no wills-variation regime. Testamentary freedom is otherwise near-absolute, but the obligation to provide support survives death: a creditor of support may claim a financial contribution from the succession within six months of the death. The claim is capped — for a spouse or a descendant, at half of what they would have received had the whole estate devolved on intestacy, less whatever they actually take; for a former spouse, twelve months’ support; for anyone else, six months’ support, and in those two cases never more than 10% of the succession.

Challenging a will in Quebec ›

Finding a will in Quebec

Two mandatory registers — the Chambre des notaires (notarial wills) and the Barreau du Québec (wills made before witnesses). Since 2 September 2025 a joint portal searches both on one application for about $30 online or $40 by mail. Search certificates from both are required documents when probating a non-notarial will, so this is a step you cannot skip in Quebec — and again, cheaper than any private alternative.

How to search for a will in Quebec ›

Quebec’s cities

What differs between them is not the law — that is the same across Quebec — but the community layer: which mosques can perform a janazah, and where they bury.

• Montreal — 2 janazah providers of 15 mosques, 22 organisations listed
• Quebec City — 1 janazah provider of 2 mosques, 5 organisations listed
• Laval — 0 janazah providers of 3 mosques, 8 organisations listed
• Longueuil — 0 janazah providers of 1 mosque, 2 organisations listed
• Gatineau — 3 listed; we have not yet confirmed a burial anchor here, so there is no city page

The fixed shares

The fractions come from Surah an-Nisa and do not vary by province. Calculate them for your family, or read where the four schools differ.