TL;DR
Your Will should focus on distributing your assets, naming an Executor, and appointing a guardian for minor children. You should not include funeral instructions because your Will might not reach people before the funeral takes place. Your Will should not contain any illegal or public policy-violating conditions. Your Will should exclude all jointly owned property because these assets will transfer automatically to the surviving owner. Your Will should not contain assets which have specific beneficiaries named for life insurance policies and registered retirement savings plans. You need to create a Living Will document which will handle your healthcare preferences instead of including them in your Will. Your Will becomes invalid when it contains incorrect items because these mistakes will lead to legal problems and delays during the probate process.
Originally published: September 18, 2024 | Last updated: March 18, 2026
What Items Should I Exclude From My Will?
A Will exists as a legal document which performs its intended functions through provincial laws that define its scope. The presence of unsuitable items in your Will creates legal problems while making the probate process longer and courts might declare specific Will sections invalid.
You need to understand the items which must not appear in your Will as much as you need to understand the items which should appear in your Will. Here are the key items you should keep out of your Last Will and Testament.
What Should You Not Include in Your Will?
1. Funeral and Burial Instructions
People frequently make this particular mistake. People choose to write their funeral instructions into their Will documents but this practice becomes ineffective because their Will document remains unread until several days after their death when funeral arrangements have already taken place.
Instead, document your funeral preferences in a separate letter of wishes and share it with your Executor and close family members. LegalWills.ca offers a service which lets you build an independent document for funeral instructions that your family members can view right away.
2. Jointly Owned Property
The surviving owner will receive all possession rights which exist between joint tenants with right of survivorship when you pass away. The assets will not move through your Will or the probate process. The following items represent common instances:
- Your family home exists as a property which you and your spouse both own together
- Your bank accounts operate under joint ownership with another person
- Your investment accounts operate under joint ownership with another person
Including jointly owned property in your Will creates confusion because the Will provision contradicts the automatic transfer. The joint ownership will prevail, making the Will provision meaningless, but it may still trigger unnecessary legal questions.
3. Assets With Named Beneficiaries
Several types of assets allow you to name a beneficiary directly, bypassing your Will entirely:
- Life insurance policies, Proceeds go directly to the named beneficiary
- RRSPs and RRIFs, Transfer to the named beneficiary or successor annuitant
- TFSAs, Transfer to thenamed successor holder or beneficiary
- Pension plans, Typically pass to the named beneficiary
- Payable-on-death bank accounts. Transfer directly to the designated person
If you name a beneficiary in your Will that conflicts with the beneficiary designation on the account, the account designation typically takes precedence. This system produces unclear situations which might result in court cases. You need to verify your beneficiary designations through a process which operates independently from your Will updates.
4. Healthcare and Medical Wishes
Your Last Will exists to become active only after death so healthcare instructions which appear in your Will do not serve any purpose while you remain alive. People should write their medical treatment choices and end-of-life care preferences and organ donation decisions into a Living Will or advance directive.
People should create a Power of Attorney for Personal Care to choose their healthcare decision-maker instead of using their Last Will.
5. Conditional Gifts That Are Illegal or Against Public Policy
The law prevents you from creating illegal or discriminatory conditions which violate public policy through your Will. Canadian courts have struck down Will provisions that:
- Require a beneficiary to marry or not marry a person of a specific race or religion
- Require a beneficiary to divorce their spouse
- Require a beneficiary to change their religion
- Impose conditions that encourage criminal activity
- Attempt to control behaviour in ways courts consider unreasonable
The court will remove any unlawful terms from the gift condition when it determines that the condition violates public policy. Learn more about how Wills can be challenged in court.
More Items to Keep Out of Your Will
6. Business Succession Plans
The Will of a business owner will transfer their ownership stake to a designated beneficiary but business operations need to be managed through separate legal documents which include shareholders’ agreements and buy-sell agreements and partnership agreements. These documents operate to protect both the business and its owners through their defined business transition process.
The inclusion of specific business succession instructions within your Will document leads to legal problems because these instructions contradict the existing corporate agreements.
7. Digital Account Passwords
Your estate plan needs to address your digital assets but you should avoid putting passwords and login information inside your Will document. People can access your accounts because Wills become public records when they enter the probate process. Instead:
- Use a password manager and share the master password with your Executor privately
- Create a separate, secure document listing digital accounts and access information
- Store this document with your Will but not in it
You need to specify your digital account management preferences in your Will which should include social media account memorialization and deletion options.
8. Provisions for Pets as Beneficiaries
The Canadian legal system treats animals as personal property which prevents them from receiving assets through a Will. You cannot leave money directly to your dog or cat. However, you can:
- Name a caregiver for your pet in your Will
- Leave money to that caregiver with instructions to use it for your pet’s care
- Create a pet trust that holds funds specifically for your pet’s expenses
9. Property You Do Not Own
You can only bequeath assets that you own at the time of your death. You cannot leave someone else’s property, leased items, or assets held in someone else’s trust. The distribution of assets which belong to others will fail to execute and this failure will create doubts about the remaining parts of your Will.
10. Debts You Want Forgiven
Your Will allows you to cancel outstanding debts which people owe you at the time of your death. However, you cannot use your Will to forgive your own debts to other people. Your debts must be paid from your estate before any assets are distributed to beneficiaries.
What Should You Include Instead?
Focus your Will on these essential elements:
| Include in Your Will | Put in a Separate Document |
|---|---|
| Executor appointment | Funeral and burial wishes |
| Guardian for minor children | Healthcare preferences (Living Will) |
| Specific bequests of assets you own | Financial management (Power of Attorney) |
| Residual estate distribution | Passwords and digital access credentials |
| Trust provisions for beneficiaries | Business succession details |
| Charitable bequests | Beneficiary designations (RRSP, life insurance) |
| Pet trust or caregiver instructions | Personal letters to loved ones |
The complete guide shows what items you need in your Will when you have kids and it explains the steps to follow after Will creation.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I include a letter to my family in my Will?
You can, but a personal letter is better kept as a separate document. People can access your sentimental and private information through the public records which appear during the probate process of your Will. Write a separate letter and store it with your Will.
What happens if I include something that should not be in my Will?
The court will either remove the invalid clause from the document or create problems which will make the probate process take longer to complete. The worst possible outcome of an invalid condition would lead courts to eliminate the entire gift or they would modify the gift terms.
Can I disinherit someone in my Will?
Most provinces allow you to disinherit adult children and other relatives but British Columbia stands as an exception because its Wills Variation Act enables family members to contest your Will. The law prevents people from fully disinheriting their spouse because provincial family law grants surviving spouses the right to receive a portion of the estate. The document needs to include an explicit statement which shows what items should be excluded from the document to stop people from contesting the Will.
Should I list every single asset in my Will?
No. It is impractical to list every item you own, and your assets will change over time. Make specific bequests for your important items (e.g., “my engagement ring to my daughter”) and use a residual estate clause to handle all other assets (e.g., “the remainder of my estate to be divided equally among my children”). The system makes sure that all important information will automatically get transferred to the next stage of the process.
