Dying without a will in Quebec 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 Quebec does
| Item | Quebec |
|---|---|
| Governing statute | Civil Code of Québec |
| Court | Superior Court of Québec |
| Handwritten (holograph) wills | Valid. Quebec recognises three forms: notarial, holograph, and witnessed wills. |
| Probate cost | 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. |
| Spouse’s share on intestacy | 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. A nikah is a civil marriage in Quebec only where the officiant is authorised by the Minister of Justice — many imams are, so check rather than assume; where he is not, art. 653 lists heirs exhaustively and a religious-only spouse takes nothing. And couples who already had a common child before 30 June 2025 are outside the parental union regime by default, but SQ 2024 c. 22 s. 46 lets them opt in — by notarial act, or simply by private writing before two witnesses. |
| Will registry | Two mandatory registers â 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 â and again, cheaper than any private alternative. One thing neither register can help with: a holograph will that was never filed with a notary or lawyer is in neither, which the government says in as many words. |
| Claims against the estate | 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. |
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 Quebec does if he left no will, and what faraid does.
Under Quebec intestacy law
There is no dollar figure here, and that is the finding rather than a gap in it. Two liquidations run before the third is even reached, and both depend on which assets are in the patrimony and when they were acquired. The one third in article 666 is a third of a figure an estate total does not determine.
- First ask whether the survivor is an heir at all. Article 653 gives succession rights to a married spouse, a civil-union spouse and, since 30 June 2025, a parental-union spouse. A de facto spouse inherits nothing. A couple married in a religious ceremony before an officiant not authorised in Quebec are de facto spouses, and this is the single most consequential trap in the province for a Muslim family.
- Partition the family patrimony. The residences, household furnishings, family vehicles and retirement benefits accrued during the marriage are valued and divided equally (arts. 414–426). This happens before the succession and is paid as a debt of it (art. 809). It cannot be excluded by a marriage contract (art. 423).
- Liquidate the matrimonial regime. Under the default partnership of acquests the survivor’s entitlement on partition of the deceased’s acquests is settled next, and is also paid as a debt of the succession (arts. 465–484).
- Only then divide what remains. Where descendants survive, the spouse takes one third and the descendants two thirds (art. 666) — and unlike every common-law province, the fraction does not move with the number of children.
Statutory basis: art. 653, art. 416, art. 666, art. 809.
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 |
Whatever the sequence above produces, it does not produce a share for his mother: no Canadian intestacy scheme gives a parent anything while a spouse and children survive. Under faraid she takes $100,000 of this estate. Only a valid will changes that.
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
- Civil Code of Québec, arts. 653 ff. — LégisQuébec
- 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
- Children born outside marriage intestacy ontario — Treadstone Law
- Holograph handwritten will ontario — Treadstone Law
- What is preferential share ontario intestacy — Treadstone Law
- Does common law spouse inherit without will ontario — Treadstone Law
- Wills & estates practice — Treadstone Law