Getting a Will made is not difficult and is not very expensive. Most lawyers will prepare a Will for around $500. Considering that a will disposes of everything you own, $500 is not a great deal of money.
That said, it is possible to make a legally binding Will informally and without a lawyer (I do not recommend it but it can be done). Such Wills are usually “holographic”.
A holograph Will is a Will written entirely in hand by the person making the will (the testator). It is critically important that everything be written by the testator – any typed passages will be ignored.
A holographic will 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
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 to 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 express a wish to direct the distribution of his or her estate to beneficiaries.
Should you choose to make a Holographic Will be as clear as possible in your language – use short simple sentences and refer to people by their full names. Make sure to set out in detail who should get what and who is going to take care of things as your Executor after your death.
2 comments:
Your post implies that the only will that can be written by an individual for his or herself is an "informal will". I don't think this is correct. There is nothing to stop me from typing a formal will that I then sign in the presence of witnesses.
Yes, you are quite right -- you can do that
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