Practice Area
Wills & Estates Lawyer in Mississauga
Two documents and an afternoon spare your family a great deal. Without them, Ontario decides who raises your children, who manages your money, and who inherits, using rules written for the average case rather than yours.
Wills
A will appoints an estate trustee, directs who receives what, and, critically for parents of young children, names a guardian. Without one, the Succession Law Reform Act applies a fixed distribution that takes no account of your intentions.
On an intestacy where there is a surviving married spouse, that spouse receives a preferential share of $350,000 for deaths on or after 1 March 2021, with the remainder divided between the spouse and children according to statutory shares. A common-law partner inherits nothing, a point worth reading twice if you are not married.
- Appointment of an estate trustee, and an alternate
- Guardianship of minor children, the single most important clause for young families
- Specific gifts and the division of the residue
- Trusts for minor or vulnerable beneficiaries, so an eighteen-year-old does not receive a lump sum outright
- Provisions for a blended family, where the default rules rarely produce the intended result
- Alignment with beneficiary designations on RRSPs, RRIFs, TFSAs, and life insurance, which pass outside the estate
- Digital assets, business interests, and property outside Ontario
Two significant changes took effect on 1 January 2022. Marriage no longer revokes an existing will; previously, marrying invalidated a will and left many people unintentionally intestate. And a separated spouse is now treated as having predeceased for the purposes of a will and an intestacy, where the spouses were separated at the time of death within the meaning of the Act. Ontario courts can also now validate a will that does not meet the formal execution requirements, where it sets out the deceased’s testamentary intentions.
Powers of attorney
A will operates on death. Powers of attorney operate while you are alive and unable to act for yourself, and in day-to-day terms they are used far more often.
Under the Substitute Decisions Act, 1992 there are two. A continuing power of attorney for property authorises someone to manage your finances, and “continuing” means it survives your incapacity, which is the entire point. A power of attorney for personal care authorises decisions about medical treatment, housing, and personal care.
Without them, family members must apply to court for guardianship or deal with the Office of the Public Guardian and Trustee. That process is slow and expensive, and it arrives at the worst possible time.
Probate and estate administration
Probate in Ontario means applying for a Certificate of Appointment of Estate Trustee, which confirms the trustee’s authority. Banks, land registry, and investment institutions generally require it before releasing or transferring assets.
Estate administration tax is payable on the value of the estate: nothing on the first $50,000, and $15 per $1,000 of value above that. Assets passing outside the estate (jointly held property with a right of survivorship, and registered accounts and insurance with a named beneficiary) are generally excluded, which is why beneficiary designations deserve attention during planning rather than after.
An estate trustee’s duties are real and personal: identify and secure the assets, advertise for creditors, file the deceased’s final tax return and the estate’s returns, obtain a clearance certificate before distributing, keep proper accounts, and distribute according to the will. A trustee who distributes before clearance can be held personally liable for unpaid tax.
Estate disputes
Most estates are administered without incident. Where they are not, the common disputes are will challenges on grounds of capacity, undue influence, or improper execution; dependant’s relief claims under Part V of the Succession Law Reform Act by someone the deceased was supporting; disputes over a trustee’s accounts; and arguments about jointly held assets and whether they were intended as a gift or held in trust for the estate.
A spouse also has an election under the Family Law Act: on the death of a married spouse, the survivor may elect to take under the will or to receive an equalization payment instead. That election must be filed within six months of death, and the deadline is easy to miss while an estate is still being organised.
Is a will kit or an online will valid in Ontario?
It can be, if properly executed. The risk is not usually validity but content: kits handle simple situations and fail on blended families, minor beneficiaries, business interests, property in another country, and beneficiary designations that contradict the will. Since 2022 Ontario courts can validate a will that does not meet the formal requirements, but relying on that means your family pays for a court application to fix a document that should have been right.
Does getting married cancel my will?
Not any more. Marriage revoked a will in Ontario until 1 January 2022; for marriages on or after that date, the will stands. If you married before 2022 and have not revisited your will since, it is genuinely worth checking whether you have one at all.
My spouse and I separated but never divorced. What happens?
Since 1 January 2022, a separated spouse is treated as having predeceased you for the purposes of both a will and an intestacy, where you were separated at death within the meaning of the Succession Law Reform Act, broadly, living separate and apart for three years, or having a separation agreement, court order, or family arbitration award. Before that change, a separated but undivorced spouse could still inherit everything. Do not rely on the rule; update the documents.
How often should a will be reviewed?
Every three to five years, and immediately after any of: marriage, separation, divorce, the birth or adoption of a child, a death among your named trustees or beneficiaries, a significant change in assets, incorporating or selling a business, or acquiring property outside Ontario.
Can probate be avoided?
Partly, through beneficiary designations on registered accounts and insurance, joint ownership with right of survivorship, and in some cases multiple wills separating assets that require probate from those that do not. Each carries trade-offs; joint ownership in particular can trigger tax, expose the asset to the co-owner’s creditors, and cause disputes about whether a gift was intended. Avoiding estate administration tax is rarely worth creating a larger problem.
Tell us what happened. We will tell you where you stand.
A consultation gets you a clear read on your position, the realistic options, and what each one is likely to cost, before you commit to anything.