Inheritance law in Canada is constitutionally a provincial matter. Therefore, the laws governing inheritance in Canada is legislated by each individual

province A province is almost always an administrative division within a country or state. The term derives from the ancient Roman '' provincia'', which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire's territorial possessions ou ...

Intestate succession

Where a person dies

intestate Intestacy is the condition of the estate of a person who dies without having in force a valid will or other binding declaration. Alternatively this may also apply where a will or declaration has been made, but only applies to part of the estat ...

, the following general rules apply: * Where the spouse survives, all the estate goes to the spouse. * Where there is a spouse and a child or children, the estate is divided as follows: First however a matrimonial home will generally pass directly to the spouse. * Where there is no surviving spouse but there are surviving children, the estate is divided equally among the children. * Where there is no surviving spouse or children, the estate devolves according to the rules of

consanguinity Consanguinity ("blood relation", from Latin '' consanguinitas'') is the characteristic of having a kinship with another person (being descended from a common ancestor). Many jurisdictions have laws prohibiting people who are related by blood fr ...

. * Where no heir can be determined, the estate is declared ''

bona vacantia Unowned property includes tangible, physical things that are capable of being reduced to being property owned by a person but are not owned by anyone. ' (Latin for "ownerless goods") is a legal concept associated with the unowned property, which e ...

'' and

escheat Escheat is a common law doctrine that transfers the real property of a person who has died without heirs to the crown or state. It serves to ensure that property is not left in "limbo" without recognized ownership. It originally applied to a ...

s to the Crown.

References

{{reflist Law of Canada Inheritance law by country