What Can You Put in a Will

Generally, you can use a will to leave your property to any people or organizations that you choose. However, sometimes your family obligations, legal obligations, or debts you owe when you die will affect how your estate is distributed, even if you have a will.

Debts

Before anyone receives property from your estate, the estate must pay for your funeral, the costs of administering your estate, and any debts you owe when you die. Your executor might have to sell some parts of your estate to pay these expenses. This could affect what your beneficiaries receive. They will only get what is left after all of your debts and expenses have been paid.

Spouses and Dependents

Under the Marital Property Act, your spouse has the right to inherit your marital property. If you have left marital property to someone else, then your spouse may apply to the probate court to change your will so that they keep the marital property.

You also have a legal obligation to support your dependents in your will. Under the Provision for Dependants Act, a dependent who relies on you for financial support can ask the court to order your estate to provide them with support after your death.

What can I give away in my Will?

Generally, you can give away anything that you own at the time of your death, but there are some rules about when and how this can happen.

If own property with someone else, you may not be allowed to give away your share of that property in your will.

Property like real estate, banks accounts, and vehicles are sometimes owned by two or more people. This is sometimes called co-ownership or joint ownership. Some types of co-ownership include a right of survivorship. A right of survivorship means that if one owner dies, the property automatically belongs in full to the other owner. So in that case, you don’t have the right to give your ownership to someone else in your will.

A lawyer can tell you whether you can include your co-owned property in your will or if there is a right of survivorship.

Before including property in your will, it is important to know if you have already chosen who will inherit that property in a different document.

The ownership documents types of property allow you to choose a person to directly inherit that property when you die. This could include, for example:

  • Pension plans
  • Life insurance
  • RRSPs (Registered Retirement Savings Plans)
  • Bank accounts
  • Other investments or savings accounts

For example, a life insurance policy may ask you to name a specific person as the beneficiary. This means that the life insurance goes directly to the beneficiary when you die. It is not included as part of your estate and you do not need to put it in your will.

Alternatively, you can name your estate as the beneficiary of this type of property. This means that the property is included as part of your estate when you die and will go to the beneficiaries in your will.

Naming beneficiaries in more than one place can create problems after you die. For example, if your sister is the beneficiary of your life insurance policy but your child is the primary beneficiary in your will, your executor may not know who should receive that money. They may need to go to court to determine who is the right beneficiary.

You can give away personal items such as jewelry and heirlooms that you own in your will.  You can give specific items to specific people.

A trust is a money fund that can only be used for a specific purpose. If you have young children, you may want to leave instructions in your will to create a trust fund for them, to keep the money safe until they are legal adults. You can also create trusts to benefit others in your life who cannot legally manage their own money (for example, an adult with a disability that impairs their capacity).

Trusts are complex to create. You should talk to a wills and estates lawyer if you are interested in setting up a trust.