When Erin Bury and her husband decided to write their will in their early 30s, their only option was to consult a lawyer or notary. They figured there had to be an easier way.
Posted at 1:54 p.m.
Ritika Dubey
The Canadian Press
“We figured there was so much software out there, from Wealthsimple that democratizes and simplifies investing to TurboTax that does it for taxes,” Ms.me Bury. Why not simplify the process of creating a will and make it more affordable and accessible? »
This experience ultimately led her and her husband to co-found the website Willful, a site for designing your own will.
Writing a will can be expensive and time-consuming, even for those without complex financial and life circumstances. This requires sitting down with an estate lawyer or notary, reviewing the details of one’s assets, and planning what will happen after one’s death, which can cost more than $1,000.
Online and do-it-yourself wills aim to bridge the gap in accessibility and affordability for people who want to write a will. However, experts say this path may not be suitable for everyone.
While working as a tax and estate planning attorney, Daniel Goldgut noticed that most people were looking for relatively simple planning. This means leaving everything to one spouse, dividing assets equally among children, or appointing a guardian for minor children.
“If we could automate the experience, make it easier, more accessible and more affordable, perhaps we could help many more people write a will,” said Goldgut, who later co-founded the preparation platform online wills Epilogue.
Websites such as Willful and Epilogue offer software to create a personalized will without having to work with an attorney. They start with questions about marital status, province of residence and dependents. The platforms also ask about aspects such as what special assets one wishes to pass on, who will be the executor of the will and how one wishes to distribute their assets.
Then it’s a matter of answering some more in-depth questions such as, if your executor cannot act at the time of your death, who should be the replacement?
Advice that can be key
But there is a difference between creating your will online and signing it to make it legally valid.
“When you create a will online with a tool like Willful, it means we can only guide you so far,” noted Ms.me Bury. We can provide you with a page of instructions that describes exactly how to sign the will in front of witnesses to make it legally valid, but we cannot know whether you have taken this final step. »
PHOTO PROVIDED BY WILLFUL, CANADIAN PRESS ARCHIVES
-Erin Bury et son mari, Kevin Oulds
Online wills generally always need to be printed and signed by hand in the presence of two witnesses. But this is not the case in all provinces. For example, British Columbia allows electronic signing of wills.
But even though there is an extra step to validate the document, the cost of creating a will online is much lower, typically falling between $100 and $400.
However, creating a will online does not offer the same legal advice that a client would get by working with a lawyer.
Mr. Goldgut noted that online wills are not suitable for some complex situations involving blended families and certain assets or a child receiving disability benefits and are less amenable to precision in language.
It is in these cases that people should consult a lawyer or notary to design a will that can accommodate specific conditions, he added.
Esther Abecassis, a lawyer at Devry Smith Frank, says there is a greater risk of making a mistake in homemade wills, which can prolong the asset management process.
For example, she said, if someone created a will at home and had one witness sign the document instead of two, it could double the time before the document goes through the court process.
“Double the paperwork because you’re supposed to have two people as witnesses to the will, and it’s probably going to cost them three to four times as much,” Ms.me Abecassis.
“You have worked very hard all your life. You want to leave a legacy and not a legal mess,” she noted.
But Mme Abecassis agreed that having a will is better than not having one at all in most cases.
She suggested consulting with an attorney even when drafting a will online to be aware of potential pitfalls.
“The courts do not take lightly the transfer of property based on the intent of the testator [la personne qui a rédigé le testament]said Mme Abecassis. This person is not alive, so the courts must ensure that they are protected. »
