How do you find someone’s will? After someone passes away, one of the first steps to taking care of their affairs is to determine whether or not they had a will, and if they had one, where to find it.
This article will discuss how to find a will in Canada by looking at home, searching official Canadian will registries, and checking financial institutions, as well as the importance of wills in estate planning.
Are wills public information in Canada?
The privacy of a will changes depending on whether it has gone through probate..
Before probate, wills are private documents. This means that the contents of a will are not publicly accessible while the testator (the person who made the will) is still alive or before the will is submitted for probate after their death.
An executor or estate administrator needs to read the will to administer the estate. Outside of these roles, other people will have limited ability to read the will between the testator’s death and probate, if probate is required for the estate.
After probate, wills typically become part of the public record. Here's how the probate process in Canada works:
- The executor submits a probate application to the provincial court of the person who passed away.
- The court verifies the authenticity and validity of the will.
- If the will is confirmed to be valid, a grant of probate is granted, and the will becomes a public document that can be accessed through court records.
- In most Canadian jurisdictions, probated wills and information about estate values then become available for public viewing.
- Anyone can search for and get copies of probated wills through the appropriate provincial court registry, though you may have to pay a fee.
Here are some important things to remember about probate:
- Not all wills go through probate. Small estates or those with jointly-held assets may not require probate, but almost all types of wills can go through probate. That includes holographic (handwritten) wills, Canadian will kits, online wills, and wills made with a lawyer.
- It may be weeks or months after a person's death before probate is completed (if probate is required at all), and the will becomes accessible to the public.
- Some provinces maintain will registries that allow people to register the location of their will, but these registries do not contain the actual contents of wills.
- In British Columbia, you can file your will with the BC Wills Registry, but it only becomes a public document if probate is granted.
Where are wills registered in Canada?
After you’ve made your will and notified your executor about where it is, it’s a good idea to register it. This isn’t mandatory, but it works as an extra safety net in the event your executor forgets where your will is, or you move it and forget to tell them the new location.
Willful users get access to many estate planning resources and can register their will on the Canada Will Registry for FREE. Start your will today →
Steps to Finding a Will in Canada
Finding a deceased person's will is one of the executor’s first responsibilities. The task should be left for them to do unless there is no appointed executor for the estate.
In a perfect world, everyone should notify their executor of the location of their will. But if you’re the executor and weren’t told the location of the will, follow these steps:
- Check with the deceased’s spouse or partner, family members, or close friends. They may know where the will was stored.
- Search the deceased's home, especially in filing cabinets, safes, or other secure storage areas. If they don’t have a safe, keep an eye out for flame-proof or water-proof sealed folders that may contain important documents.
- Important note for residents of BC: Since BC allows the legal storage of digital wills in Canada, it’s possible the deceased’s will could be saved on a hard drive, , USB stick, or in the cloud.
- Contact the deceased's lawyer, if they had one. They may have given the deceased legal advice for wills, prepared their will, or stored it for safekeeping.
- Search registries:
- The Canada Will Registry is a database that allows you to search for registered wills across the country.
- In Ontario, if the deceased’s lawyer registered their will, it may be found in Will Check’s database
- In British Columbia, search the BC Vital Statistics Agency will registry
- In Quebec, check with both the Barreau du Québec and Chambre des notaires du Québec
- Contact banks where the deceased held accounts. The will may be in a safety deposit box.
- Place a notice in local newspapers or legal publications asking anyone with knowledge of the will to come forward.
- Check with the local courthouse or probate office. If it’s been a while since the person passed, it’s possible the will has already been probated, and you can use the public record access for wills.
- If all else fails, apply to the court to be appointed as the estate representative. This may be necessary if no will can be found.
When searching for a will, make sure to document every step you’ve taken in the search process, as you may need to prove due diligence in looking for the will later on.
Why search the Canada Will Registry?
When someone dies, how do you know if they have a will? How do you know if the will you find is the most recent version?
If you’re administering an estate, relying on the wrong documents can result in mistakes, delays, and liability. Searching the Canada Will Registry is an optional but wide-reaching step that allows you to:
- Find out if the deceased had a will or codicil, no matter where they lived in Canada
- Determine where these documents were stored
- Document that you made a proper effort to find all estate planning documents
How the Canada Will Registry Works
You or your lawyer visits the Canada Will Registry website and clicks the Search for a Will button. You then fill in the Search Query form, outlining who you are, whose will you’re looking for, and how to contact you if there’s a match.
You’ll receive a Search Certificate from NoticeConnect confirming that you checked the will registry. This document is proof for your records that you took effective action to identify any missing or outstanding wills.
The Canada Will Registry compares your search terms against their database of wills. These wills are registered by individuals and law firms across Canada. If there’s a matching will, either the law firm holding the will or NoticeConnect will reach out to you directly within thirty days. If you do not hear back, then you can assume there were no matches.
Costs
Searching the Canada Will Registry costs a one-time fee that can be disbursed back to the estate.
- Standard Search ($95 + HST): checks the Canada Will Registry’s full database of wills
- Combined Search ($170 + HST): checks the Canada Will Registry’s full database and checks for unregistered wills by publishing a public notice that is distributed to law firms, law associations, and other partners
Learn more about the Canada Will Registry →
Do Canadian wills expire?
No, as long as a will was properly executed according to legal requirements, it remains valid indefinitely unless it is revoked or replaced by a new will.
Outdated wills can also introduce headaches for your estate and loved ones. The estate settlement process may take longer if assets listed in the will are no longer part of the estate, new family members or assets are not included in the will, or people named in the will are no longer able to take on their roles of executor, beneficiary, or guardian.
Why wills are so important and what happens when you don’t have one →
The importance of updating a will
It’s recommended that you update your will every few years. This helps you accommodate changes in your wishes and changes in your life, such as:
- Getting married or divorced
- Buying your first home or moving to a new province
- Welcoming a new child to the family
- Having previously-named beneficiaries or executors pass away
- Selling or giving away assets previously mentioned in your will
The best part about keeping your will up to date is that it’s free! When you make a will with Willful, you get free unlimited will updates for life. This means every time you make free updates to your will, you save hundreds of dollars compared to going to a lawyer.
Ready to save? Start your will today →
