Skip to content
Alberta Law Reform Institute Logo Alberta Law Reform Institute Logo
  • Publications
  • Projects
  • News
  • About
  • Contact
  • Subscribe
  • Twitter
  • LinkedIn
  • Publications
  • Projects
  • News
  • About
  • Contact
  • Subscribe
  • Twitter
  • LinkedIn

Final Report

Back to Publication Search

The Creation of Wills, Final Report 96

September 29, 2009 | Wills and Succession


Categories Menu

  • By Area of Law
    • Administration of Justice
    • Constitutional and Public Law
    • Contract
    • Corporate and Commercial
    • Criminal Law
    • Debtor and Creditor
    • Employment and Industrial Law
    • Equity and Trusts
    • Family Law
    • General
    • Legal Profession
    • Medical Law
    • Partnerships and Associations
    • Personal Representatives
    • Procedure
    • Property
    • Tort
    • Wills and Succession
  • Publication Type

The Creation of Wills

This report makes a number of recommendations to reform the Wills Act. It recommends that Alberta courts be given the power to validate a will or an alteration, revocation or revival of a will even if it does not comply with the formalities prescribed by the Wills Act. It also recommends that the age of testamentary capacity remain the same as the age of majority (18 years) so that a minor cannot make a valid will. People may possess and then lose testamentary capacity, either temporarily or permanently, due to any number of conditions. In Alberta, a substitute decision maker for a person who lacks testamentary capacity is not allowed to make, alter or revoke a will on behalf of that person. It is recommended that courts not have the power to make statutory wills for persons lacking testamentary capacity. No change is recommended to the current law which recognizes only written wills. Oral wills should not be valid either in their own right or under the dispensing power. It is recommended that exempt wills should continue to be available under Alberta law. A statutory provision allowing exempt wills provides guaranteed validity for such wills. It is recommended that the Wills Act authorize holograph wills made in the testator’s “own writing,” defined as “handwriting, footwriting, mouthwriting, or writing of a similar kind.” The current requirement of “handwriting” is too narrow and could be viewed as discriminatory. It is recommended retaining the tradition statutory requirement that a will must be signed at its “end or foot,” subject to a saving provision to alleviate some of the main problems arising from a strict interpretation. It is also recommended retaining the saving provision of the Wills Act, which validates wills signed by an incompetent witness.
fr096

Resource Details

Publication No: 96
FORMAT: Publications
TAGS: validate, alteration, revival, formalities, majority, testamentary, requirement, handwriting, interpretation, revocation, revoke, wills, act, capacity, decision, holograph, witness
FILE: fr096.pdf

Related Publications

  • Personal Property Security Act, Report for Discussion 35
  • Family Maintenance and Support from the Estate of a Person that Stood in the Place of a Parent, Report for Discussion 34
  • 2019-2020 Annual Report
  • Police Record Checks
  • Adverse Possession and Lasting Improvements to Wrong Land, Final Report 115

Newsletter Sign-up

Email: 

Email: 
  • Publications
  • Projects
  • About
  • Work with Us
  • News
  • Your Views
  • Contact

Edmonton Main Office
402 Law Centre, University of Alberta
Edmonton, AB T6H 2H5 Canada