Toronto Wills and Estates Lawyer (Part 4): International Wills in Ontario

Oct 20

Toronto Wills and Estates Lawyer (Part 4): International Wills in Ontario

Please note that the information provided herein is not legal advice and is provided for informational and educational purposes only. If you need legal advice with respect to a Will or International Will, you should seek professional assistance (e.g. make a post on Dynamic Lawyers). We have Toronto, Ottawa, Hamilton, Brampton, Mississauga and other Ontario lawyers registered to help you prepare and draft a Will or International Will.

Along with other provinces and countries, Ontario is a contracting party to the Convention Providing a Uniform Law on the Form of an International Will. This means that, if a Will is made in the form of an International Will (i.e. in accordance with the form prescribed by that Convention in the Schedule and Annex in the Succession Law Reform Act) concerning two or more contracting parties, then the Will is valid as between those parties irrespective of where it was made, the location of the assets and of the nationality, domicile, or residence of the testator. At present, some the contracting parties to the Convention include: Belgium, most Canadian provinces (Manitoba, Newfoundland, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Prince Edward Island, New Brunswick, and Nova Scotia), Cyprus, Ecuador, France, Italy, Iran, Portugal, the Russian Federation, the United Kingdom, and the United States of America. An important difference with an International Will is the requirement that an authorized person (in Ontario, this means a lawyer) attach to the Will a Certificate establishing that the obligations of the Convention have been complied with.