Let me just add some remarks. In general, if $L$ is a finite dimensional Lie algebra over an arbitrary field $F$ then a subalgebra $H$ of $L$ is called a Cartan subalgebra if $H$ is nilpotent and self-normalising in $L$. If $L$ is semisimple and $F$ has characteristic zero (as in the case asked by the OP) then the Cartan subalgebras of $L$ are precisely the maximal tori of $L$. (A torus of $L$ is an abelian subalgebra consisting of semisimple elements). Note that the existence of a Cartan subalgebra is always assured whenever the ground field has more than $\dim_F L$ elements. In particular, finite dimensional Lie algebras over infinite field always have Cartan subalgebras. Moreover, the Cartan subalgebras coincides with the minimal Engel subalgebras of $L$. (A subalgebra of $L$ is called an Engel subalgebra if it is the null Fitting component of $L$ with respect to $ad x$ for some $x\in L$.) See the paper
R.E. Barnes: On Cartan Subalgebras of Lie Algebras, Math. Z. 101 (1967), 350-355.
On the other hand, the existence of Cartan subalgebras of Lie algebras defined over small fields still remains an OPEN problem.
It is also worth to mention that solvable Lie algebras always have Cartan subalgebras.
Finally, if $L$ is a finite dimensional restricted Lie algebra over a field of characteristic $p>0$, then $H$ is a Cartan subalgebra of $L$ if and only if is the centralizer of a maximal torus of $L$. (Here a torus is an abelian subalgebra consisting of semisimple elements; an element $x$ of $L$ is semisimple it $x$ is in the restricted subalgebra generated by $x^{[p]}$).