Dying without a will in Saskatchewan 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 Saskatchewan does
| Item | Saskatchewan |
|---|---|
| Governing statute | The Wills Act, 1996 and The Intestate Succession Act, 2019 |
| Court | Court of King's Bench for Saskatchewan |
| Handwritten (holograph) wills | Valid |
| Probate cost | About $7 per $1,000 of estate value (roughly 0.7%). |
| Spouse’s share on intestacy | Where all of the intestate’s descendants are also the spouse’s, the spouse takes the entire estate. Where any are not, the spouse takes the greater of $200,000 or one-half of the net estate, and then also takes half the residue if there is one child, or a third of the residue if there is more than one. |
| Will registry | No general government will registry. The “Wills and Estates Registry” at the Court of King’s Bench sounds like one but is a post-probate index of every estate application filed in Saskatchewan since 1905 — $20 to search. Two things it does surface: caveats, and any will a living person has deposited for safekeeping with a local registrar, which the Administration of Estates Act, s. 49 permits (each judicial centre chooses whether to accept deposits, so ask first). Separately, the Wills Act, 1996, s. 46 requires the minister to establish a registration system for international wills; we could not find any government page showing one is operating. |
| Claims against the estate | Dependants’ relief claims under The Dependants’ Relief Act, 1996. Saskatchewan’s definition of "dependant" is unusually wide: as well as a spouse, a two-year cohabiting partner and minor children, it reaches an adult child who alleges that "by reason of need or other circumstances" they ought to receive a greater share than the will gives them. |
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 Saskatchewan does if he left no will, and what faraid does.
Under Saskatchewan 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. 5.
- A spouse who has lived separate and apart for two years, or who is party to a final separation agreement or a pending divorce or family property proceeding, takes nothing (s. 15).
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, Saskatchewan 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
- The Intestate Succession Act, 2019, SS 2019, c I-13.2 — Publications Saskatchewan
- 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
- Half siblings intestacy ontario — Treadstone Law
- 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
- Wills & estates practice — Treadstone Law