Wills in Ontario: Preparing Your Last Will and Testament

A will says who receives your property, who looks after your estate and, if you have young children, who you want to care for them. Without one, Ontario’s Succession Law Reform Act makes those decisions for you. Law Wise prepares wills for individuals and couples from its Mississauga office, serving the entire GTA and Ontario.

What a last will and testament does

• names your estate trustee, the person often called an executor, and an alternate
• says who receives your property, including specific gifts and whatever is left over
• lets a parent appoint someone to have decision-making responsibility for minor children after the parent’s death, subject to conditions in the law
• can set up trusts so that young or vulnerable beneficiaries do not receive everything at once
• reduces the room for disagreement by saying clearly what you want

What happens if you die without a will in Ontario

A person who dies without a will dies intestate, and Part II of the Succession Law Reform Act sets out who inherits:

• Spouse and no descendants: the spouse receives the whole estate.
• Spouse and descendants: the spouse first receives the preferential share, which is $350,000 for deaths on or after 1 March 2021. Of the rest, the spouse receives one-half if there is one child and one-third if there is more than one, and the children share the balance.
• No spouse: the estate goes to the children equally, with the share of a child who has died passing to that child’s own children.
• No spouse or descendants: the estate goes to the parents, and then to more distant relatives in the order the Act sets out.

For example, if a person dies without a will leaving a spouse, two children and an estate worth $650,000 after debts, the spouse receives $350,000 plus one-third of the remaining $300,000, for a total of $450,000, and the two children share $200,000. The figures are an illustration only.

Three further points surprise many families. For these rules a spouse means a married spouse, so a common-law partner does not inherit automatically. A married spouse who was separated from the deceased at the time of death, as the Act defines separation, does not inherit under these rules either. And with no will there is no chosen estate trustee, so someone has to apply to the court to be appointed.

What makes a will valid

The formal requirements are in Part I of the Act:

• Writing. A will must be in writing. Ontario does not accept electronic wills.
• Signature. The will is signed at its end by the person making it, or by someone else in that person’s presence and at their direction.
• Two witnesses. The signature is made or acknowledged in front of two witnesses who are present at the same time, and both witnesses sign in the presence of the person making the will.
• Witnesses who do not benefit. A gift in the will to a witness, or to a witness’s spouse, is void.
• Age. The person making the will must be at least 18, with limited exceptions.
• Video signing. Witnessing can be done by audio-visual communication technology if at least one witness is a licensee of the Law Society and the signing happens at the same time.
• Handwritten wills. A holograph will, written entirely in the person’s own handwriting and signed, is valid without witnesses.

If a document was not properly signed or witnessed, the Superior Court of Justice can still order that it is valid as a will where it is satisfied that the document sets out the deceased’s testamentary intentions. That is a court application with an uncertain result, not a substitute for signing properly.

How Law Wise prepares a will

1. First meetingWe discuss your family, your property and what you want to happen. The lawyer meets with you personally to confirm that you have the capacity to make a will and that the instructions are your own.
2. DraftYou receive a draft to read at your own pace, and we explain any clause that is not clear.
3. SigningYou sign in front of two witnesses at our office, and a witness swears an affidavit of execution, which makes the will easier to prove later.
4. SafekeepingWe explain where the original should be kept and who should know where it is.

What to think about before you meet a lawyer

• who should be your estate trustee, and who should step in if that person cannot act
• who you would want to care for minor children
• who inherits, and who inherits if that person dies before you
• specific gifts, such as a home, a business interest or family keepsakes
• children from an earlier relationship, and a current spouse or partner
• beneficiaries who are young, have a disability or receive government benefits
• property outside Ontario
• accounts and insurance policies that already name a beneficiary

Spouses and dependants: limits on what a will can do

Two rules can override the terms of a will. A surviving married spouse can choose between what the will gives and an equalization payment under the Family Law Act. That election must be filed within six months after the death. Otherwise the spouse is treated as having chosen to take under the will, unless a court orders otherwise.

Separately, if a person dies without making adequate provision for the proper support of a dependant, a court can order support out of the estate. A dependant is a spouse, parent, child, brother or sister whom the deceased was supporting or was legally obliged to support immediately before death. The application must normally be made within six months after probate is granted.

Mutual wills

Couples often make wills together that mirror each other. If the two have also agreed that neither will change their will after the other dies, the survivor may be held to that agreement, and property received from the first to die can be treated as held in trust for the people named in the agreed will. If you want that result, or want to avoid it, the wills should say so clearly.

Changing or revoking a will

A will can be revoked only by a later will, by a signed document that declares the intention to revoke and is made with the same formalities as a will, or by destroying it with the intention of revoking it. Small changes are made by a codicil, which is signed and witnessed like a will. Writing on the original will is not a safe way to change it. Review your will when you marry, separate or divorce, when a child is born, when a beneficiary or estate trustee dies, and when your property changes significantly.

Can a will be challenged?

A person with a financial interest in the estate can ask the court to set a will aside, for example because the person who made it lacked capacity, was unduly influenced, did not know and approve of its contents, or did not sign it properly. A carefully prepared will, with a lawyer’s notes of the instructions and of the signing, is strong protection against a challenge. Law Wise also advises estate trustees and beneficiaries where a will is disputed.

Do you need a lawyer to make a will?

No. The law does not require one, and a handwritten will can be valid. The risk in doing it yourself is in the details: witnesses who turn out to be beneficiaries, wording that can be read two ways, property that is not covered, or a result you did not intend for a spouse or child. We give you a fee estimate before starting, based on how complex your situation is, and confirm it in writing.

Your file is handled by a Law Wise lawyer licensed by the Law Society of Ontario. Service is available in English, Urdu, Punjabi and Hindi, and, if you retain the firm, fees are explained and confirmed in writing before work starts.

Common questions about wills

This page is general legal information for Ontario, current as of 10 October 2026. It is not legal advice and does not create a lawyer-client relationship. For advice about your situation, please speak with a lawyer.