Hand written will?
- Thread starter wazup
- Start date
Officially it will do, but you are strongly advised to get it written up by a lawyer anyway. About the only time that a hand written will should be considered, if ever, is if you plan to leave everything to a single person so that there is no room for dispute. Even then you need to be careful about the wording. Something like "It is my last will and testament that I leave everything I have to my wife. Signed December 30 2010 at my home on Terb Avenue, Toronto, John Percival Wazup". Obviously what's missing here is what if you and your wife both die? Now it gets complicated... but your holographic will would be better than nothing. And there are more complications beyond that, so strongly consider getting it done right by a lawyer.
Really if your situation is so simple that a holographic will will do, then it shouldn't take a lawyer more than an hour to you draft one up properly, based on some well tested boiler plate.
Power of attorney allows your wife to access funds in your name, say if you become incapacitated. Making her the executor makes her the one who handles the closing down of the estate (i.e., the decision maker with authority).
Assuming again that you are leaving stuff to a wife, another thing you should consider is putting as much of your property, investment accounts, bank accounts, etc., into joint accounts. If she is joint on an account and you die she doesn't need to jump through any legal hoops to access the funds as she's already named on the account.
Really if your situation is so simple that a holographic will will do, then it shouldn't take a lawyer more than an hour to you draft one up properly, based on some well tested boiler plate.
Power of attorney allows your wife to access funds in your name, say if you become incapacitated. Making her the executor makes her the one who handles the closing down of the estate (i.e., the decision maker with authority).
Assuming again that you are leaving stuff to a wife, another thing you should consider is putting as much of your property, investment accounts, bank accounts, etc., into joint accounts. If she is joint on an account and you die she doesn't need to jump through any legal hoops to access the funds as she's already named on the account.
Then absolutely and without question get it done by a lawyer because that is a recipe for a protracted court battle if it's not done right. Not only will your estate dwindle under the weight of the legal fees, but the bitter battle over your assets will potentially rip apart the family you think you're caring for. Do it right, make it properly legal and clear to everyone what's what, so that you don't inflict that kind of misery on your siblings.
You really should have a lawyer draw up a will for you unless you are leaving everything to your one and only closest relative and there is absolutely no possibility of your will being contested. There is a big difference between adequate and well drafted in terms of accomplishing what you really wish to have accomplished.
In Ontario as in many other jurisdictions there is a difference between a power-of-attorney and a durable-power-of-attorney the former is valid only while you are competent, the latter survives incompetency. Then there is a personal or health-care power-of-attorney which permits someone to make medical decisions for you when you are unable to do so. Further, since the person with a power-of-attorney has absolute control over your assets, you want to make quite sure that you only appoint someone whom you trust implicitly.
In Ontario as in many other jurisdictions there is a difference between a power-of-attorney and a durable-power-of-attorney the former is valid only while you are competent, the latter survives incompetency. Then there is a personal or health-care power-of-attorney which permits someone to make medical decisions for you when you are unable to do so. Further, since the person with a power-of-attorney has absolute control over your assets, you want to make quite sure that you only appoint someone whom you trust implicitly.
Did you not identify your three siblings as beneficiaries in your life insurance policy?
You can also control the scope (to some degree, anyway) of a Power of Attorney to financial matters, or to medical matters.
The OP's original question was whether a hand-written will was valid. And while the laws vary among jurisdictions, in Ontario a hand-written will is considered valid. But (IIRC) it must be entirely in your own handwriting, nothing typed. And there are certain clauses which are recommended for inclusion (such as revoking all previous wills, including a date on the will, etc).
As others have pointed out, it is wise to have a lawyer prepare a will if there is any possibility of it being contested or misinterpreted. And these days, anyone from an occasional houseguest to a greedy relative might contest a will or attempt to re-interpret it for their own benefit.
If you have no will (or if some sections of your will get thrown out by a court), family law (e.g. in Ontario) will dictate who is entitled to your estate.
Ask your bank to recommend a lawyer that specializes in wills..my parents did a new one last year and I think it was only $300. I'm sure any other lawyer would be charging alot more.
Indeed but even under the best of circumstances settling an intestate "estate" is going to involve more grief and chew through more assets than if the descedent had a valid will.
An example of a simple will is, assuming you would leave everything to just one family member, as follows:
LAST WILL & TESTAMENT OF GPIDEAL
I, GPIDEAL, hereby bequeath upon my demise, all my personal belongings and effects, including finances and financial interests, and assets, to my mother Mrs. GPIDEAL (failing her my father Mr. GPIDEAL, and failing him, my sister Ms. GPIDEAL), and I do so with my own free will & accord, and being of sound mind.
Dated this 30th day of December 2010 at 123 Anywhere Street, Toronto, ON A1B 2C3.
Not only do you require your dated signature, but it needs to be witnessed by at least two people (signed and names printed).
However, I still recommend that you consult with a lawyer or at least, get a modern will kit.
LAST WILL & TESTAMENT OF GPIDEAL
I, GPIDEAL, hereby bequeath upon my demise, all my personal belongings and effects, including finances and financial interests, and assets, to my mother Mrs. GPIDEAL (failing her my father Mr. GPIDEAL, and failing him, my sister Ms. GPIDEAL), and I do so with my own free will & accord, and being of sound mind.
Dated this 30th day of December 2010 at 123 Anywhere Street, Toronto, ON A1B 2C3.
Not only do you require your dated signature, but it needs to be witnessed by at least two people (signed and names printed).
However, I still recommend that you consult with a lawyer or at least, get a modern will kit.
As others have said, get a lawyer to do your will. A few hundred dollars now has the potential of saving tons of grief and dollars down the road for your beneficiarie(s) .
Take their advice if you can, but if that 6AM flight tomorrow has you worried, then do what you can as clearly and simply as you can to tell the world what you want done with what you leave behind and who you want to do it; that's your will and your Executor does what it says. It would also be useful to tell the world who you trust to look after you and your stuff if you're too injured or sick to do it yourself; that's the Power of Attorney, and looking after you— for Health and Personal Care—is different from looking after your stuff—for Property—even if you pick the same lucky person (and alternate) for both.
You won't be there, so disputes will be someone else's worry, but why make trouble? Use a different document for each, and write the entire thing out longhand—called a holographic will—avoiding changes, crossouts and edits that anyone might question later and date and sign it. If you can get a disinterested witness to sign they saw you sign it, so much the better. Be sure to say this document and no other is the real deal, and be sure to mention what you want if anyone you name is dead, unwilling or unable if and when people are trying to figure out the mess your death or incapcity has caused. Leave the documents in a safe place, and tell whoever will get the news that you went down with the plane where that is and who is your Executor. You did think to ask them I hope?
Then promise you'll get on to a lawyer and do it up right as soon as you get back. That Power of Attorney especially will be so full of holes it's entirely unlikely any doctor will actually go by it and turn off, or keep on, a respirator because of it. But if it's all you can do in the time you've got, it's not likely it'll make anything worse, and at least it'll give your poor galpal some standing.
I belive the classic holographic will was one written in the dust on a rolled over tractor fender "Everthing to Em." and signed by the farmer who died under the wheel. The court upheld it as a valid and sufficient expression of the intent of the deceased.
You won't be there, so disputes will be someone else's worry, but why make trouble? Use a different document for each, and write the entire thing out longhand—called a holographic will—avoiding changes, crossouts and edits that anyone might question later and date and sign it. If you can get a disinterested witness to sign they saw you sign it, so much the better. Be sure to say this document and no other is the real deal, and be sure to mention what you want if anyone you name is dead, unwilling or unable if and when people are trying to figure out the mess your death or incapcity has caused. Leave the documents in a safe place, and tell whoever will get the news that you went down with the plane where that is and who is your Executor. You did think to ask them I hope?
Then promise you'll get on to a lawyer and do it up right as soon as you get back. That Power of Attorney especially will be so full of holes it's entirely unlikely any doctor will actually go by it and turn off, or keep on, a respirator because of it. But if it's all you can do in the time you've got, it's not likely it'll make anything worse, and at least it'll give your poor galpal some standing.
I belive the classic holographic will was one written in the dust on a rolled over tractor fender "Everthing to Em." and signed by the farmer who died under the wheel. The court upheld it as a valid and sufficient expression of the intent of the deceased.
There is also the famous 1948 case in Saskatchewan of Cecil Harris who was pinned under his tractor when it rolled over. On the fender of the tractor, he scratched with a knife “In case I die in this mess, I leave all to the wife. Cecil Harris.” The courts considered this a valid holographic will (the fender is I understand in the Law Library at the University of Saskatchewan)
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Why bother with a holographic will? If you want your family members engaged in protracted litigation with all of your estate’s assets eaten up by legal fees (which you cannot prevent because you will be dead), just don’t write a will at all. Same result, but you save on ink and paper.
Yes, those wacky law school cases about wills written on the back of a whatever are interesting, but they are reported cases. That means that they were litigated and appealed to death. I assume you don't want that.
Yes, those wacky law school cases about wills written on the back of a whatever are interesting, but they are reported cases. That means that they were litigated and appealed to death. I assume you don't want that.
Perhaps if the op is getting on the plane in ten minutes. Otherwise as already stated at #11 even under the best of circumstances settling an intestate "estate" is going to involve more grief and chew through more assets than if the descedent had a valid will.
You should also look at the Succession Law Reform Act R.S.O. 1990, CHAPTER S.26 Part II §§ 44-49 and make certain that its provisions are indeed what you would want to occur.
http://www.search.e-laws.gov.on.ca/...54/1/doc/?search=browseStatutes&context=#BK48
I had a problem opening your link, is this the section you meant?
http://www.e-laws.gov.on.ca/html/statutes/english/elaws_statutes_90s26_e.htm#BK47
http://www.e-laws.gov.on.ca/html/statutes/english/elaws_statutes_90s26_e.htm#BK47
