A holograph Will is a Will written entirely in hand by the testator.
It is subject to no other formal requirement ; witnesses are not required for the Will to be legal. Of those provinces that accept a holograph Will, some require the testator’s signature, others do not. In Ontario a holograph Will should be signed and dated by the testator. The entire Will must be in the handwriting of the testator ; a typed Will with testator’s signature is not accepted as a legal holograph Will.
Holograph Wills need only to meet minimal requirements in order to be valid:
1. there must be evidence that the testator wrote the will, which can be proved through the use of witnesses, friends, other handwritten documents that verify identity.
2. the testator must have had the mental capacity to make a will, although there is a presumption that a testator had such capacity unless there is evidence to the contrary.
3. the testator must be expressing a wish to direct the distribution of his or her estate to beneficiaries.
2 comments:
Can you make an amendment to a typed will by handwriting -- if the lawyer has retired and you want the estate to go entirely to a charity (as specified in the original will) adding the charity's wording -- in B.C.
Anon, while I'm not sure about B.C., I know of cases in Ontario where well-intentioned people have cost their estates a lot of money by doing exactly that. (Trouble is that - again, in Ontario - a handwritten codicil *can* be legally effective, if done right. Handwritten amendments to an original will could be seen as a handwritten codicil. If it's not done cleanly, however, then you'll have a hard time probating it, and need to bring an application for directions. It's not cheap.)
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