Islamic Wills in Nova Scotia

Making an Islamic will that works in Nova Scotia

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

Handwritten wills: Valid. A will is valid if it is wholly in the testator's own handwriting and signed by the testator, with no witnesses required. Nova Scotia also has a curative provision (s. 8A) letting a court validate a will or writing that does not meet the formal requirements if it embodies genuine testamentary intent.

Probate: Among the highest in Canada. A $2 million estate attracts roughly $33,000 in probate fees — more than Ontario on the same estate.

If you die without a will in Nova Scotia

$50,000 flat, and NOT conditioned on whether the children are the spouse's own — that Alberta/BC-style distinction does not exist in Nova Scotia's Act. Where the intestate leaves a spouse and issue, the estate goes entirely to the spouse if its net value is $50,000 or less; above that, the spouse takes the first $50,000 (plus interest on it) and then shares the residue with the issue — one-half to the spouse with one child, one-third with more than one child, the rest divided per stirpes among the issue. Where there is a spouse and no issue, the spouse takes the whole estate. 'Spouse' includes a registered domestic partner under the Vital Statistics Act but not an unregistered common-law partner.

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

Can the will be challenged?

Testators' Family Maintenance Act claims. "Dependant" is defined as the testator's widow, widower, or child — and "child" includes an adopted child and a child not yet born at the testator's death, with no age limit and no requirement that the child was actually being supported. A 2019 trial-level decision (Lawen Estate) held it unconstitutional to let an independent adult child claim, but the Court of Appeal reversed that in 2021 and the Supreme Court of Canada denied leave to appeal in 2022 — so the Act stands as written, and an independent adult child can bring a claim exactly like a minor or dependent child.

Challenging a will in Nova Scotia ›

Finding a will in Nova Scotia

No central government will registry.

How to search for a will in Nova Scotia ›

Nova Scotia’s cities

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

• Halifax — 2 janazah providers of 4 mosques, 8 organisations listed
• Truro — 0 janazah providers of 0 mosques, 1 organisation listed

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.