Originally published: May 21, 2015 | Last updated: November 27, 2024
Our clients at LegalWills.ca tend to ask us about the correct way to register their Wills. The short answer is that Canada does not have a national Will registry, and registering your Will is not required for it to be legally valid. The Will discovery process after death becomes easier because certain provincial registration systems and private organizations maintain databases which show both Will existence information and their storage places.
One of the most common questions we receive at LegalWills.ca is whether you can, or should, register your Will. The short answer is that Canada does not have a national Will registry, and registering your Will is not required for it to be legally valid. However, some provincial registries and private services exist that can record the existence and location of your Will, which may help your executor locate it after your death.
What Will Registries Exist in Canada?
The availability of Will registries varies by province:
- British Columbia: The Vital Statistics Agency maintains a Wills Registry where you can register the location of your Will. This is the most established provincial registry in Canada.
- Saskatchewan: Offers a Will registry through the provincial court system.
- Other provinces: Most provinces, including Ontario, Alberta, Manitoba, and the Atlantic provinces, do not operate government Will registries.
Private Will registry services also exist across Canada. These services record basic information about your Will, typically your name, the date of the Will, and where it is stored, for a fee. While these can be useful, they are not required and are not searched automatically when someone dies.
The availability of Will registries varies by province:
Registration happens after your Will is complete, signed, and witnessed, not before. You register the existence and location of the final, executed document. If you update your Will, you should update the registration as well to reflect the new document. Registration is most valuable in situations where your executor may not know about your Will or where family members are geographically dispersed and may have difficulty locating the document.
British Columbia: The Vital Statistics Agency operates a Wills Registry which allows people to register their Will storage locations. The provincial registry stands as Canada’s most established registry which holds this position as its historical origin.
Registration is only one way to ensure your Will is found. More practical steps include:
- Tell your executor: The single most important step. Your executor should know that a Will exists and exactly where to find it.
- Store it safely but accessibly: A fireproof safe at home, a safety deposit box (though access after death can be complicated in some provinces), or with a trusted family member.
- Keep a copy with your lawyer: If a lawyer prepared your Will, they may store the original or a copy.
- Use a digital notification service: LegalWills.ca offers a Keyholders feature that designates trusted individuals who can be notified about the existence and location of your Will and other important documents.
- Leave a letter of instruction: A non-legal document kept in an obvious location that tells your family where to find your Will, insurance policies, and other critical documents.
Saskatchewan: The provincial court system provides a Will registry service for the province of Saskatchewan.
If your Will cannot be located after your death, your estate is treated as if you died without a Will, even if family members know a Will existed. This means intestate succession laws apply, and all the planning you did is lost. In some cases, a copy of the Will may be admitted to probate, but this requires a court application and is not guaranteed. The lesson is clear: writing a Will is only half the job. Making sure it can be found is equally important.
For a complete overview of the signing and storage process, see our step-by-step guide to writing your Will. To understand the broader estate planning context, read about key definitions for non-lawyers.
Tim Hewson is one of the founders of LegalWills.ca.
He has over 20 years of experience helping people to write their Will and other estate planning documents. He has been interviewed by many of the major news media outlets including CTV, Global News, The Toronto Star, and other leading Canadian publications. He has also contributed to a number of financial planning books.
Throughout his career, Tim has written extensively on the subject of Will writing and estate planning.
