An Islamic inheritance calculator takes the net estate after debts and funeral costs, sets aside any bequest of up to one third, assigns the fixed fractions the Quran gives to spouses, parents, children and certain siblings, and hands whatever remains to the residuary heirs, with a son taking twice a daughter's share. That is the whole method, and the HalalWallet faraid calculator runs it for any combination of heirs. What the calculator cannot know is which of your Canadian assets will ever reach the estate: an RRSP or TFSA with a named beneficiary, a jointly held home and a life insurance policy pass outside the will. The legal framing is on our Islamic inheritance hub.
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The order of operations every calculator follows
- Pay funeral expenses and all debts first, including a halal mortgage balance, taxes owing and any unpaid mahr; nothing is distributed until these are settled.
- Apply the bequest (wassiyah), which may not exceed one third of what remains and may not go to someone who already inherits a fixed share; a bequest above a third needs the heirs' consent after death.
- Assign the fixed shares (fara'id) set out in Surah an-Nisa 4:11, 4:12 and 4:176 to the heirs present, after removing any heir who is blocked by a closer relative.
- Give the residue to the residuary heirs (asaba), nearest male line first, with sons and daughters sharing two to one.
- If the fixed shares add up to more than the estate, reduce them proportionally (awl); if they add up to less and there is no residuary heir, return the surplus to the non-spouse fixed-share heirs (radd).
The calculator on halalwallet.ca asks for the gender of the deceased, the estate value, debts, bequests capped at one third, and the surviving heirs, and applies standard Sunni rules with blocking handled automatically. It notes that results vary by school in some edge cases, such as a grandfather inheriting alongside siblings, and that its output is not legally binding in Canada. Both caveats are correct and are why the second half of this page exists.
The fixed-share heirs and what changes their fraction
| Heir | Share | Condition |
|---|---|---|
| Husband | 1/2, or 1/4 | 1/2 if the wife left no child or grandchild; 1/4 if she did |
| Wife (or wives together) | 1/4, or 1/8 | 1/4 if the husband left no child or grandchild; 1/8 if he did |
| Mother | 1/3, or 1/6 | 1/3 if no child and fewer than two siblings; 1/6 if there is a child or two or more siblings |
| Father | 1/6 plus residue, or residue only | 1/6 when there is a son; 1/6 plus the residue when there are only daughters; the whole residue when there are no children |
| One daughter, no son | 1/2 | Two or more daughters share 2/3; with a son, daughters become residuary at half a son's share |
| Son | Residue | Takes what remains after fixed shares; two sons split the residue equally; blocks siblings and more distant relatives |
| Full sister, no children or father | 1/2, or 2/3 for two or more | With a full brother she becomes residuary at half his share; blocked by a son or father |
| Uterine (same-mother) siblings | 1/6 for one, 1/3 shared for two or more | Only when the deceased left no child, grandchild, father or grandfather (the kalalah case of 4:12) |
Six heirs can never be blocked: husband, wife, father, mother, son and daughter. Everyone else inherits only if no closer heir stands in the way. The two conditions that most often change a family's answer are whether the deceased left a child, which halves the spouse's share and cuts the mother's from a third to a sixth, and whether there is a son, which turns daughters from fixed-share heirs into residuary ones.
Residuary heirs: what asaba means in practice
The residuary heirs take whatever is left after the fixed shares, and in most families that is the largest part of the estate. The order is the deceased's descendants (sons, with daughters alongside them), then ascendants (father, then paternal grandfather), then brothers and their sons, then paternal uncles and their sons. The nearest class takes everything; a son excludes a brother, and a brother excludes an uncle. When a male and female of the same class inherit together, the male takes twice the female's share, the rule of 4:11 for children and the reason a calculator counts sons and daughters separately.
Two situations confuse readers. If there is no residuary heir at all, for example a widow with daughters and no male relative in the line, the majority view returns the surplus to the fixed-share heirs other than the spouse (radd). And a stepchild, an adopted child, a son-in-law or a daughter-in-law is never a residuary or fixed-share heir; the only way to provide for them is the one-third bequest.
Four worked examples for Canadian families
A widow with two sons and a daughter, $600,000 net estate
The husband died leaving a wife and children, so the wife takes 1/8, which is $75,000. There are no parents, so nothing else is fixed. The remaining $525,000 is the residue and goes to the children two to one: five shares in total, each son taking two ($210,000) and the daughter one ($105,000). If the husband's parents were also alive, each would take 1/6 ($100,000) before the residue, leaving $325,000 for the children.
A husband and both parents, no children, $400,000 net estate
The wife died leaving a husband and her parents, no children. The husband takes 1/2 because there is no child: $200,000. The mother would ordinarily take 1/3 where there is no child, but when a spouse and both parents inherit together the majority ruling, followed by the four Sunni schools, gives the mother one third of what remains after the spouse's share rather than a third of the whole; that is $66,667 here, with the father taking the balance of $133,333 as residuary. A minority view gives the mother a full third of the estate, $133,333, and the father $66,667. The calculator follows the majority; if your family follows a school or scholar who takes the other view, say so in the will.
A widow with two daughters and no son, $300,000 net estate
The husband died leaving a wife, two daughters and a full brother. The wife takes 1/8 ($37,500) and the two daughters share 2/3 ($200,000, or $100,000 each). The brother is the nearest residuary heir and takes the remaining $62,500. This is the case that surprises Canadian families most, because a brother who may live abroad inherits ahead of the daughters' surplus. If there is no brother or other male agnate, the majority view returns the surplus to the daughters by radd, and the calculator applies that position.
A blended family with a stepson, $800,000 net estate
The husband died leaving his second wife, a son from his first marriage, a daughter from the second, and his wife's son from her earlier marriage. The wife takes 1/8 ($100,000). The residue of $700,000 goes to his own children two to one: the son $466,667 and the daughter $233,333. The stepson, whom he may have raised from infancy, inherits nothing under faraid because he is not the deceased's child. The only route to him is a bequest of up to one third of the net estate, a maximum of $266,667, written into the will; a bequest of that size reduces what the others receive, since shares are computed on what remains. Blended families are the strongest case for a lawyer-drafted will.
Canadian assets that bypass the will, and how to bring them back
A calculator divides the estate; Canadian law decides what the estate contains. An RRSP with a named beneficiary is paid to that person directly. The CRA's page on an unmatured RRSP at death, read on canada.ca on 1 October 2026, says that where the property is paid to a surviving spouse or common-law partner named in the contract or the will and transferred to their RRSP or RRIF, the spouse claims a deduction for the transfer; in all other situations the fair market value at death is included in the deceased's income for the year of death, with reductions where a financially dependent child or grandchild receives it. A TFSA follows the CRA's distinction between a successor holder, who takes over the account, and a designated beneficiary, who receives the proceeds. A jointly held home passes to the survivor, and life insurance goes to the named beneficiary. The calculator counts none of these unless you add them.
Ontario's Succession Law Reform Act, read on ontario.ca, confirms the mechanism: section 51 lets a plan participant designate a beneficiary by a signed instrument or by will, and section 52 provides that a later designation revokes an earlier one to the extent of any inconsistency. The halal fix is a choice between two routes. Either name the estate as beneficiary so the RRSP, TFSA and insurance fall into the faraid split, accepting the probate cost and, for an RRSP, the income inclusion on the final return; or keep the designations for tax reasons and equalize in the will, so the heir who receives the RRSP outside the estate takes correspondingly less inside it. Our articles on TFSA and RRSP beneficiaries versus an Islamic will and on TFSA successor holder versus beneficiary designations work through the numbers for each route.
Provincial wrinkles the calculator cannot see
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| Province | What can override or bypass the faraid split | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| Ontario | Section 58 of the Succession Law Reform Act lets a court order support for a dependant from the estate where the will has not made adequate provision | Provide adequately for a dependent spouse and minor children inside the faraid shares, and document it; see the Ontario will article |
| Quebec | Civil law: the Civil Code governs, a notarial will needs no probate, and family patrimony rules divide certain assets between spouses before the succession | Use a notary familiar with faraid; our Quebec Islamic will article covers the notarial route |
| Manitoba | Section 17 of The Wills Act: a will is revoked by the testator's marriage unless it declares it was made in contemplation of that marriage | Re-sign the will after any marriage, or draft it in contemplation of the marriage |
| Nova Scotia | Probate tax on the estate's value is among the highest in Canada, which shrinks the pool the shares are applied to | Weigh designations and joint ownership against the faraid split with a lawyer; see our Nova Scotia will article |
| All provinces | Beneficiary designations, joint tenancy and life insurance pass outside the will | Decide asset by asset whether to route it through the estate or equalize in the will |
Read the Islamic will in Quebec and Islamic will in Manitoba guides first if you live in either province, because the civil-law regime and the marriage revocation rule change the drafting itself, not only the arithmetic. For Ontario, our Ontario Islamic will lawyers comparison shows how practitioners document dependant support alongside faraid.
Using the HalalWallet calculator and the online will tools
Run the calculator with the net estate you expect to leave inside the will, not your gross net worth, and list every debt, including a halal mortgage balance and the tax on an RRSP paid to the estate. Run it once for the heirs alive today and again for the family you expect in ten years, since a new child or a parent's death changes every fraction. Then compare the result with the designations on your RRSP, TFSA, pension and insurance. Of the Canadian online will generators, MyAmana includes an inheritance calculator and power of attorney documents, Wassiya is the budget option, Manzil generates a will in about 20 minutes by its own description, and the Basira Islamic Foundation offers a free generator that hard-codes the faraid case tables so the will resolves the heirs at death rather than when it is signed. Any of them is enough for a simple family whose assets will all pass through the will. See a lawyer for a blended family, a business or farm, property outside Canada, a dependant who could claim under Ontario's section 58 or its equivalent, a Quebec domicile, a marriage after the will was signed in Manitoba, or registered accounts large enough that the beneficiary decision changes the tax bill materially. The Islamic will hub lists the provincial guides and the lawyers we have profiled.
Verdict: when the calculator is enough and when it is not
A married reader with children, a home held in both names, a modest RRSP and TFSA and no prior marriage can use the calculator to see the fractions and an online Islamic will generator to make them binding. A reader with only daughters, parents still living, or siblings who would inherit as residuary heirs should run the calculator, then confirm with a scholar which position on radd and the grandfather applies, and write it into the will. A reader in a blended family, with a dependant who could claim support, with property in Quebec, or with a will signed before a later marriage in Manitoba should treat the calculator as the starting figure and retain a lawyer who has drafted faraid wills before. Facts checked against canada.ca, ontario.ca, web2.gov.mb.ca on October 1, 2026.
Frequently asked questions
How does an Islamic inheritance calculator work?
It subtracts debts and funeral costs, sets aside a bequest of up to one third, assigns the fixed Quranic fractions to the spouse, parents, children and qualifying siblings who survive, removes any heir blocked by a closer relative, and gives the remainder to the residuary heirs with sons taking twice a daughter's share. The HalalWallet faraid calculator applies standard Sunni rules and handles blocking automatically.
What does residuary heirs mean?
Residuary heirs, or asaba, are the relatives who take whatever is left after the fixed shares are paid: sons and daughters together first, then the father, then brothers, then paternal uncles and their sons, with the nearest class excluding the rest. In most families the residue is the largest part of the estate. A stepchild or adopted child is never a residuary heir.
Does my RRSP go through the Islamic inheritance split?
Only if it reaches the estate. An RRSP with a named beneficiary is paid directly to that person; the CRA treats a transfer to a surviving spouse's RRSP as deductible and otherwise includes the value in the deceased's final return. To apply faraid to it, either name the estate as beneficiary or keep the designation and reduce that heir's share of the rest of the estate in the will.
Can I leave more to my daughters than the calculator gives them?
Not by changing their fixed shares, but you can use the one-third bequest for people who are not fixed-share heirs and you can give gifts during your lifetime, which is a separate matter from inheritance. Where there is no son and no male residuary heir, the majority view returns the surplus to the daughters, which the calculator applies. Discuss any further provision with a scholar before writing it.
Is the calculator's result legally binding in Canada?
No. Every Canadian province applies its own intestacy and wills law, and none of them follows faraid. The calculator tells you the shares; a valid will that meets your province's formalities is what makes them enforceable, and even then Ontario's dependants' relief provisions and Quebec's family patrimony rules can override parts of it. Have the will reviewed by a lawyer licensed in your province.
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What happens in Manitoba if I marry after signing my Islamic will?
Section 17 of Manitoba's The Wills Act revokes a will on the testator's marriage unless the will declares it was made in contemplation of that marriage. A Muslim who signs a faraid will and then marries dies intestate under Manitoba law, and the provincial intestacy split, not faraid, applies. Re-sign the will after the wedding or have it drafted in contemplation of the marriage.
