Questions, answered plainly

mWill is a guided platform for preparing an Islamic will in Canada. It helps you record your family, assets and wishes, shows how the Faraid shares apply to your situation, and prepares your will as PDF and DOCX files.

mWill is for adult Muslims, 18 or older, who live in Canada and want a will that follows Faraid and fits the rules of their province or territory.

Yes. An account lets mWill save your answers as you go, so you can stop at any time and return to your draft later.

Yes. Each time you finalize, mWill keeps that version as a fixed record and starts a new version for your changes. Review your will after a marriage, divorce, birth or death in the family.

mWill is available in English today. Translations into French, Arabic, Urdu, Bengali and Hindi are in progress, so some screens may still appear in English.

Faraid is the Islamic science of inheritance. It comes mainly from Quran 4:11, 4:12 and 4:176. It sets fixed shares for certain heirs, such as spouses, parents and children, and passes the remainder to residuary heirs in a set order.

The calculation follows majority Sunni positions. Where the schools differ, a qualified scholar will confirm the position before launch. Until then, ask your imam or a scholar you trust to review your result.

The engine works in exact fractions and never rounds, so every share adds up precisely. It applies fixed shares, residuaries, blocking (hajb), ʿawl and radd. The results are informational until a qualified scholar has reviewed the engine.

Yes. Under the majority view, you may leave up to one third of your estate as a bequest (wasiyyah) to charity or to people who are not already heirs. The wizard asks about these bequests.

A will becomes valid when you sign it as your province requires, usually in front of witnesses. mWill prepares the document and a signing checklist. During pre-production, lawyers and notaries have not yet reviewed the templates, so please do not rely on them yet.

mWill gives you signing instructions for your province. In most provinces, you sign in front of two witnesses who are present at the same time and who are not beneficiaries or their spouses. Quebec also offers a notarial will made with a notary.

We recommend it. A lawyer or notary can spot issues a guided tool cannot, such as blended families, business assets or property outside Canada. You can find one in your province through the mWill professional directory.

Keep the signed original somewhere safe, and tell your executor where it is. Your estate will need the original paper will, or the notarial will in Quebec. A copy in your mWill account does not replace it.

Provincial law decides who inherits and in what shares, a process called intestacy. The rules vary by province, but a surviving spouse often does not receive everything automatically, especially if you have children; the rest can pass to your children or other relatives. Common-law partners are treated very differently from province to province, and in some provinces they have no automatic inheritance rights at all, even after many years together. A will lets you decide this yourself instead of leaving it to your province's default rules.

An executor (sometimes called an estate trustee) is the person you name in your will to settle your estate: locating and valuing your assets, paying debts and taxes, and distributing what remains to your heirs and beneficiaries. It is a real responsibility, so choose someone trustworthy and organized. They do not need to be a legal expert, since they can hire a lawyer to help. If you die without a will, the court appoints someone to fill this role instead of you choosing them.

The exact steps vary by province, but generally include: locating the will, obtaining a death certificate, notifying banks and institutions, applying for probate if required, taking an inventory of assets and debts, paying off debts and taxes, and finally distributing what remains to the heirs. An executor can get a lawyer's help at any stage, and many choose to for anything beyond a simple estate.

In most provinces, a finalized divorce automatically cancels any gift or appointment, such as naming them executor, that you gave to your former spouse in an existing will. The exact rule, and whether it also applies to separation, varies by province. Update your will yourself rather than relying on this, and confirm with a lawyer what applies where you live.

Not usually. In most provinces, only a legally finalized divorce automatically changes what your will says about a former spouse. Separation alone, or ending a common-law relationship, does not. If you have separated, update your will yourself rather than assuming it updates automatically.

A testamentary trust is created by your will and holds assets for a beneficiary instead of giving them directly, following instructions you set out. For example, it might pay a surviving spouse income for life before the remainder goes to your children, or manage an inheritance for a minor or a family member who needs extra support. It is not just for large estates, and a lawyer can advise whether one fits your situation.

Generally, yes. You are not usually required to accept an inheritance, and this comes up most often when an estate has more debts than assets. The process and any deadlines vary by province, so if you are considering renouncing, speak with a lawyer before doing anything with the estate's property, since treating it as your own can count as accepting it.

Usually, yes, but it is not always as simple as walking away, especially once they have started acting for the estate. Depending on the province, this can mean formally notifying the beneficiaries, and sometimes getting court approval. If you are an executor who wants to resign, or you named one who no longer wants the role, a lawyer can explain the process in your province.

Quebec recognizes three forms: a notarial will, drafted and kept by a notary; a holograph will, entirely handwritten and signed by you; and a will signed in front of two witnesses. Only the notarial will skips probate and takes effect immediately on death. A holograph or witnessed will must go through probate before a notary or the court first, which requires someone who is not named in the will to confirm your handwriting or that the signing was done properly.

Because a notary is recognized in law as a public officer, a notarial will is self-proving: it needs no probate, so the estate can be settled sooner and at lower cost. A notary drafts the wording to avoid ambiguity and confirms every legal requirement is met, can advise on protecting inherited property or providing for a minor or vulnerable heir, and keeps your signed original safely on file so it can always be located.

Yes. A notary can record your decision to accept or refuse organ and tissue donation in a notarial act, usually your will. It is then entered into the Chambre des notaires du Québec's confidential Consent Registry for Organ and Tissue Donations, which authorized healthcare professionals can check when needed.

Quebec law sets strict rules for a liquidator's duties, such as taking inventory, paying debts and filing the deceased's taxes on time, and a notary can guide you through each step. This protects the liquidator, who can be held personally liable if an heir, legatee or creditor is harmed by a missed step, and it protects heirs too, since accepting a succession, even unintentionally such as by using estate funds, can make an heir personally liable for its debts.

Yes, by adding a clause to your notarial will asking for it. Your notary will then convene your heirs after your death to read and explain the will, answer questions, and clarify the liquidator's role and timeline, once standard practice in Quebec and something some notaries now encourage again.

No. Because a notary is a public officer, a notarial will is automatically authentic and takes effect immediately on death. A holograph will, a will made before witnesses, or a will drafted only by a lawyer still needs to be probated by a court or notary.

Every notarial will must be recorded in the Chambre des notaires du Québec's Register of Testamentary Dispositions, created in 1961. After a death, searching it confirms whether a notarial will exists and that it is the most recent one. Because the notary keeps the signed original, it can always be traced and reissued on request.

You are not obliged to accept a succession, and heirs are generally only liable for the deceased's debts up to what they inherit, but the Civil Code sets a strict process for this. Acceptance can happen unintentionally, such as by treating estate property as your own, and without a notarized renunciation you are assumed to have accepted by default. Renouncing is done through a notarial act, typically when an estate is insolvent, and you have six months from the date of death to accept or renounce before you are treated as having accepted.

Yes. Death ends a marriage or civil union, which triggers division of the family patrimony and matrimonial regime. The surviving spouse's share from that division, along with protections like compensatory allowances and preferential allocations, is settled before what is left passes through the succession. A notary can guide a surviving spouse or civil union partner through this.

Quebec's parental union regime, introduced in 2025, gives a surviving parental union spouse one third of the estate without a will, with the remaining two thirds going to the children, more than a common-law spouse outside a parental union receives, who inherits nothing automatically. Many parents still choose to leave everything to the surviving parent through a will, and to name a guardian for their children.

Yes. Death ends the parental union, which triggers a division of the parental patrimony. The surviving spouse's share from that division, along with protections like compensatory allowances, is settled before what is left passes through the succession.

You can. If you joined through an organization, it sees only that a will exists. It sees the content only if you give consent for a specific version, and you can withdraw that consent at any time. Every access by someone else is recorded in an audit log.

Passwords are hashed with Argon2, and you can turn on multi-factor authentication. Generated PDF and DOCX files are encrypted in storage and served only through the signed-in app. Data is hosted in Canada. Full encryption of will content is being completed before launch.

No. We use what you enter to prepare your will and run your account.

Yes. Self-service export and deletion are being built. Until they are ready, email privacy@muslim-will.ca and we will handle your request.

Not unless you allow it. The organization sees that you have a will. It can read a specific version only after you give consent, and you can revoke that consent whenever you like.

No. They are independent professionals. Any consultation, advice or fee is agreed between you and the professional. mWill does not give legal advice.

Mosques, Islamic centres and charities can apply through the organizations page. We review each application before setting up a portal for your community.