The Reason You Haven't Signed Your Will Just Expired

Signing a will has always meant everybody in the same room at the same time. You, your spouse, two witnesses, and a good chunk of a weekday at a lawyer's office. For a lot of Canadians,that scheduling problem is the actual reason the will never got done.In four provinces, that requirement is now gone for good. Alberta, Ontario, Saskatchewan and British Columbia allow wills to be signed and witnessed over video on a permanent basis, with no emergency and no medical reason required. Most people assumed those pandemic measures lapsed years ago. In these four, they didn't. Quebec went adifferent direction through its notarial system, and across the rest of the country the traditional rules still apply.In this episode I get into what remote signing actually looks like, because it's more structured than it sounds. A lawyer is usually still involved. Signatures are still wet ink on paper in most cases. What changed is that nobody has to be in the same room on the same afternoon.I also get into the part that didn't change, and it's the part that keeps people stuck far longer than any calendar conflict. Who your executor is. What happens to the family cabin. Whether your RRSP beneficiary still names the person you think it does. No change in the law is going to answer those questions for you.Read the full article.Disclaimer: This content is for general information only and is not legal, financial, medical, or tax advice.