A short explainer on electronically signing a Will in British Columbia

For the last 200 years, the law that describes how to write a Will has barely changed. You have been required to write a Will on a piece of paper and sign it in ink in the presence of two witnesses.

In 2020 because of COVID, some laws changed to allow witnesses to be “virtually” present.

However, the Will would still need to be mailed to each witness to be signed in ink.

2021 has seen the introduction of e-signing and digital Wills in some jurisdictions, and Bill 21 in British Columbia will make BC the first Canadian Province to allow a Will to be electronically signed and digitally stored.

LegalWills.ca has teamed up with the Canadian company Syngrafii to create the most complete electronic Will solution available to Canadians.

If you are a resident in BC, you can choose the option to e-sign your Will. You can invite your witnesses to a scheduled Video Signing Room. When you gather, you will be guided through each of the places to sign in the document.

LegalWills.ca then allows you to store your signed document in your Digital Vault together with an audit trail called a “Masterfile”.

You can then set your Executor up as a “keyholder”, to access the signed Last Will and Testament as well as the Masterfile, which can be printed and submitted to the probate courts in BC.

The partnership between LegalWills.ca and Syngrafii, together with the Digital Vault and Keyholder solution, makes this the perfect tool for creating and storing an electronically signed Will under the new Digital Will laws in BC.

Tim Hewson
Latest posts by Tim Hewson (see all)