In Ontario, a testator can generally dispose of his or her property as he or she sees fit, subject to certain exceptions.

 Of course, the one obvious purpose of preparing a Will is to allow the testator to particularize how and to whom his or her estate will be distributed on death.

 Why then the importance of preparing a Will? We would all like to ‘put our house in order’ (and by ‘house’ I mean our Estate), seeing to it that those for whom we want to provide after death are provided for after our death.

 Last week my colleague Jennifer Wan blogged on the issue DIY Will Kits linked below

My colleague Suzana Popovic-Montag has also written several tips for drafting solicitors. You can find Suzana’s post here.

I will now discuss the act of preparing a Will. How we prepare our Will(s) reflects how we want our estate to be administered upon death. The form and content of a Will widely varies between individuals. The ‘planning’ is in the ‘drafting’ but made particular from the specific requirements of everyone. When drafting a Will, it is recommended to discuss all questions and concerns with the solicitor drafting your Will. For example, persons of higher net-worth, or who own multiple properties in several different jurisdictions, should consider discussing the drafting of multiple Wills with their solicitor to potentially reduce probate fees and split up their assets.

As Greer J. opined at paragraphs 9 and 22 of her judgment, respectively, in Granovsky Estate v. Ontario, sophisticated testators have often used multiple Wills when they have assets in more than one jurisdiction…

Testators have unfettered discretion when dealing with their own assets in their Wills, subject to certain legal claims dependents may have against estates if they are not adequately provided for, and subject to the rights of the surviving spouse to take under the Will or elect against it. Testators therefore have the right to organize their affairs in a way which will allow their estates to pay as few probate fees or as few taxes as legally possible.

Her Honour went on to note that neither was there a legislative nor ‘common sense’ prohibition on allowing testators to plan their estate by preparing multiple Wills. Granovsky Estate v. Ontario, 1998 CanLII 14913 (ON SC).

Preparing multiple Wills by way of a Primary Will and Secondary Will, the latter of which does not contain assets that require such Secondary Will to be probated and therefore not subject to probate fees. Granovsky is a good example of reducing probate fees paid by preparing Multiple Wills.

For a more detailed analysis of Granovsky, please see my colleague’s post here;

For a more general discussion of multiple Wills, here.

Though there is no ‘one size fits all’ answer to how and to whom a testator wishes to dispose of his or her Estate, by preparing a Will or multiple Wills a testator can reduce complications.

Thanks for reading and have a great day!