Locating a Will after death can often be a challenge. Fortunately, the Law Society of Ontario (“LSO”) has resources that can assist with this task. The LSO maintains a resource page with advice on how to locate a Will. Some of the tips include:
Contacting the lawyer or paralegal who may have prepared the Will directly. The LSO has a lawyer and paralegal directory that can assist by providing information about current lawyers and paralegals. (However, this route can only assist if the lawyer or paralegal who prepared the Will is known.)- Search the court to see if the Will was deposited with the court. (However, experience tells us that very few Wills are deposited with the court.)
- Search Willcheck.ca or NoticeConnect to see if they have a record of the Will. The benefit of a search through NoticeConnect is that they can send a notice to their mailing list of lawyers and paralegals asking about knowledge of a particular Will.
- Contact the LSO. They may be able to assist in locating a Will prepared by a former lawyer or paralegal.
The LSO has prepared an infographic setting out steps that can be taken to locate a will.
As always, foresight is the best practice. After a Will has been drafted, it is always advisable for the testator to communicate with the named estate trustee(s) to advise them of the location of the Will. After all, there is little benefit to a careful estate plan if the Will cannot be readily located. Telling the estate trustee where this important document can be found can make the already difficult job of being an estate trustee a little easier.
Thanks for reading.