In this report, the Alberta Law Reform Institute (ALRI) makes recommendations for the alteration and revocation of electronic wills.  To make these recommendations, ALRI reviewed the changes made to the Uniform Wills Act (“Uniform Act”). The Uniform Law Conference of Canada (“ULCC”) amended the Uniform Act to promote the uniform development of wills law across Canada with respect to electronic wills. ALRI compared the Uniform Act to other jurisdictions in Canada and abroad, researched the current law in Alberta, and consulted with the public and with estate professionals in Alberta to make the recommendations in this report.

ALRI recommends that the alteration and revocation of electronic wills should be governed largely by the same rules currently found in Alberta’s Wills and Succession Act (“WSA”), with additional witness requirements for certain acts of revocation. This report should be read in conjunction with ALRI’s Final Report 119: Creation of Electronic Wills (“Final Report 119”), which proposed that electronic wills should be permitted in Alberta and provided recommendations for how electronic wills should be created.