Can my ex-spouse inherit my estate if I die without a will in Ontario?

Once your divorce is final, your former spouse is no longer your "spouse" under Ontario's intestacy rules and has no right to inherit your estate. A divorce order ends the marriage, and with it, the spousal inheritance entitlement under the Succession Law Reform Act.

However, if you are separated but not yet legally divorced, your estranged spouse is still your legal spouse. Separation agreements do not automatically eliminate spousal inheritance rights under intestacy. Only the final divorce order removes those rights.

There is also a nuance worth knowing: even after a divorce, a former spouse may still be a named beneficiary on registered accounts or life insurance policies if you never updated those designations. Those assets pass directly by the designation, not through the estate, so a former spouse could still receive them if the designation was never changed. Updating your designations after a divorce is as important as updating a will.