Wills & E-Wills

Wills And E-Wills

A will is a legal document in British Columbia, governed by the BC Wills, Estates and Succession Act.

What Is a Will For?

A will is a legal document that allows you to specify how your assets (your estate*) should be distributed after your death. You can also appoint an executor to manage the settlement of your estate.

*Your estate excludes jointly owned property that passes to the other owner through the right of survivorship (see Joint Ownership) and registered plans, insurance policies, or other accounts with designated beneficiaries (see Beneficiary Designations).

Who Can Make a Will in BC?

Anyone 16 years of age or older who is “mentally capable” can make a will. To be mentally capable, you must understand the nature and effect of creating a will, have a general idea of what you own and who might expect to inherit it (such as a spouse or children), and be free from mental delusions. This is a legal standard, not a medical one.

Special rules may apply to members of the Canadian Forces, and different regulations might apply if you live on a reserve.

When Can a Will Be Used?

A will is an estate planning document, meaning it only takes effect after your death and has no legal impact while you are alive.

If you don’t create a will, default legal rules will determine what happens to your property—see Dying Without a Will (Intestacy) for more information.

What Are Electronic Wills (E-Wills)?

An electronic will, or e-will, is a will in digital format, such as a PDF file on a computer. E-wills are signed digitally by the will-maker and their witnesses and stored electronically, without the need for a paper copy.

Multiple “originals” of an e-will can exist as long as they remain unaltered. It’s advisable to save copies on multiple devices and online platforms to make it easier for the executor to locate an original for probate.

The will-maker and witnesses can be in the same room when making an e-will, or they can be in different locations, using an audio-video conferencing service to meet legal requirements.

It’s important to note that signing a physical will using “remote witnessing” or “electronic witnessing”—where the will-maker and witnesses are in different locations, signing identical copies of a physical will in counterparts—does not make the will an electronic will. Scanning a physical will does not turn it into an e-will.