Can Anyone Find Your Online Last Will?

Did you make your will during the pandemic? I recommend you locate the original will and review it. You may be surprised by the choices you made about who your beneficiaries and executors would be.

Did You Make a Will Online?

No one knows if your online will is going to be valid 10 or 20 years from now. What happens when your online will is nowhere to be found or is out of date?

Only your original signed will is valid. In Ontario that requires it to be signed and in writing. There are other requirements if you signed your will using audio-visual communication technology provided at least one witness is a “licensee” as defined by the Law Society Act (paralegal or lawyer). Track down the will witnesses. Make sure you have an original will that can be filed with the estate court when the time comes.

You need proof from two witnesses to your will. They confirm in a document called an affidavit of execution that validates your will. You may have difficulty later trying to locate these people if you do not have their sworn affidavit now.

Your online will should not:

• Make gifts to minors or disabled relatives to protect them from exploitation
• Exclude any living child without legal advice
• Fail to provide for married or common law spouses

If you have second thoughts about the content in your will, contact me now.

Estate law is all I do.