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Corcoran Law Office

Will & Estates

Having a Will is a short form for having a Last Will and Testament. In Ontario, the Province has written a Will for everyone that comes in very handy where a person dies without a Will and leaves issue, (children) , and assets. What is a Last Will and Testament ranges from a complicated, multi-jurisdictional document, drawn up in compliance with statutory requirements of many different jurisdictions to a mere letter setting out how you want your property to be dealt with after you die, (a Holograph Will). There is no requirement that you have a Will or that you must hire a lawyer to prepare a Will for you. However, with or without a lawyer there is a T1 terminal return income tax return that must be prepared for the deceased. and an income tax return for the estate that must be submitted to CRA each year. Considering the reporting requirements to the government, payment of debts, taxes and the eventual distribution of your estate to beneficiaries, having a Will is perhaps the better choice.

Your options are reasonably straightforward. You have the choice to choose from one of the several commercially available Wills, follow the instructions and hope you have not made a mistake, or hire a lawyer. LawPro insures every lawyer in Ontario for negligence. I have prepared Wills for persons in my office, their home, their death bed, in a hospital and where there might be a challenge to the Will, I video the process to provide evidence in the event of a dispute.

When my mother passed away, the family and I discovered she had secretly retained a lawyer to prepare a Will for her, naming a friend of mine as her executor. We all found out at the same time. My friend accepted the job as executor and Mother’s last wishes were followed. In Mother’s case, her secrecy was of no consequence. However, sometimes a deceased will have written a secret Will that is of consequence. For example, the family finds that the wife/husband are not mentioned, there is no provision for the support of an unmarried or common law spouse or a disproportionate amount of the deceased’s assets has been allocated to persons they have just recently met, or the deceased is a victim of unjust enrichment, undue influence or fraud. The Family Law Act, Ontario, provides relief from the hardship caused when a married partner is not included in the Will of the deceased husband/wife or is not provided with the proportionate share of the matrimonial assets. The Succession Law Reform Act aids in some cases but as a rule the inevitable litigation that follows goes on for years and is always very expensive. It is overwhelmingly in your best interest to avoid circumstances such as I have described, and others I have not mentioned.

The cost of having me write a Will for you is always proportional to your ability to pay. I try not to say no to anyone. All things being equal and straightforward, the fees for a Will and 2 powers of Attorney usually range from $350.00 for a husband-and-wife mirror image Will and up to $1,000.00 if an attendance at the home or hospital is required along with a video. It is difficult to estimate without knowing all the facts. What determines the fee is the amount of time I must spend on the project from start to finish.