Islamic Wills in Yukon

Making an Islamic will that works in Yukon

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

Handwritten wills: Valid

Probate: A low flat fee structure.

If you die without a will in Yukon

$75,000, a figure unchanged since 1977. Where an intestate leaves a spouse and issue and the estate does not exceed $75,000, the whole estate goes to the spouse; above that, the spouse takes the first $75,000 and then shares the residue with the issue (reported as one-half with one child, one-third with more than one child — the same residue split used in Ontario and several other provinces). Where there is a spouse and no issue, the spouse takes the whole estate. The preferential share is payable only to a legally married spouse.

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

Can the will be challenged?

Dependants Relief Act claims. 'Dependant' means: the surviving spouse (defined to include a common-law spouse — 12 months' cohabitation, or a marriage not legally valid but entered in good faith); a child under 16; a child 16 or over who cannot earn a livelihood because of mental or physical disability; and a grandparent, parent, or descendant who was actually financially dependent on the deceased for the 3 years before death. Like Prince Edward Island (and unlike Nova Scotia and Newfoundland and Labrador), an independent, able-bodied adult child has NO claim under this Act.

Challenging a will in Yukon ›

Finding a will in Yukon

No general public will registry currently operates — but this cell needs watching, because Yukon is the only jurisdiction checked so far where the enabling law for one already exists and is simply unused. The 2020 Wills Act amendment (in force 1 May 2021) both (a) implemented the international-wills Convention, with its own narrow registration system for that special will form, and (b) separately gave the government a standalone regulation-making power to 'enable the creation of a registry of wills.' No evidence was found that a regulation has actually been made to stand up such a registry — Yukon's own current 'Learn about wills and estates' consumer guidance does not mention one — so the practical answer today is still 'no', but a future regulation could change this without any further Act of the Legislature.

How to search for a will in Yukon ›

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.