How to Make a Will in Ontario (2026): A Plain-Language Guide

If you have been putting off making a will, you are not alone. Many people in Mississauga and across the GTA assume it is complicated, expensive or something to deal with “later”. For most families it is none of those things. This guide explains, in plain language, how a will is made in Ontario, what makes it valid, what it usually involves at a law office, and when a simple will is enough.

What a will does, in one paragraph

A will is a written document that says who receives your property when you die, who is in charge of carrying that out (your executor, called an estate trustee in Ontario), and who you want to look after your children if they are still minors. Without one, Ontario’s Succession Law Reform Act decides who inherits, and a court decides who manages the estate and who cares for the children. Read more about that on our page on dying without a will in Ontario.

Who can make a will in Ontario

You must be at least 18 (with limited exceptions, such as a person who is married or serving in the armed forces) and have testamentary capacity. That means you understand what a will is, roughly what you own, who would normally expect to inherit from you, and how the will deals with them. Capacity is one of the first things a lawyer confirms when you meet, because a will made without it can be challenged later.

The three ways to make a will

• A lawyer-prepared will. You meet a lawyer, explain your family and property, and the lawyer drafts the will, confirms your capacity, and supervises the signing. This is the only option where someone is responsible to you if the document is wrong.
• A will kit or online will. You fill in a template yourself. These can work for very simple situations, but they are a frequent source of problems: unclear wording, wrong signing procedure, and no one checking whether the plan actually fits your family.
• A handwritten (holograph) will. Ontario recognizes a will written entirely in your own handwriting and signed by you, with no witnesses. It is valid, but handwritten wills are often incomplete or ambiguous, and they are the type most often fought over.

Whichever route you consider, it is always worth consulting a lawyer, and choosing one whose practice suits your needs: a family with young children, a business owner and a person with property abroad each need different things from a will.

What makes a will valid in Ontario

For a typed will, the Succession Law Reform Act requires that the will be in writing, signed by you at the end, and that you sign (or acknowledge your signature) in front of two witnesses who are present at the same time, who then sign in front of you. A few points people often get wrong:

• A beneficiary, or the spouse of a beneficiary, should not be a witness. If they are, the gift to that person is at risk.
• Ontario does allow witnessing by video call in limited circumstances, but Law Wise does not prepare or sign wills remotely. At our office, the person making the will and both witnesses are present in the same room, which avoids any later argument about how the will was signed.
• Since 2022, an Ontario court has the power to validate a document that was clearly meant to be a will but misses a formality. That is a safety net for rare cases, not something to plan around; the application costs far more than doing it properly the first time.
• Getting married no longer cancels an existing will in Ontario (this changed on 1 January 2022). Separation, however, can now affect what a spouse receives under a will, in the same way a divorce does. If your relationship status has changed, have the will reviewed.

What happens at a will appointment

At Law Wise, a will is prepared in four steps, and the signing always takes place in person at our office in Mississauga’s City Centre. We do not prepare or sign wills online or by video.

1. Initial meeting and intake form. We meet to go through your family, your property (home, accounts, RRSPs, TFSAs, life insurance, business interests, property outside Canada), any debts, and what you want to happen. We give you an intake form for your will and powers of attorney, which most people sign at the same time. You return the completed form with two pieces of valid identification for yourself and, for mirror wills, for your spouse.
2. Fee. We confirm the fee before any work starts. Once we have your completed form and the fee is deposited, we open your file.
3. Draft. We send you a draft within five business days. You read it, ask questions and tell us about any changes until you are satisfied.
4. Signing at our office. We book a meeting at the office, where you sign the will in the presence of two witnesses. We confirm your capacity and that no one is pressuring you before you sign, and we keep a record of the signing.

Decisions to make before you meet a lawyer

• Executor (estate trustee). Someone organized, trustworthy and ideally living in Ontario. Name a back-up.
• Guardian for minor children. Who would raise them, and who would manage their money (these can be different people). Your choice in the will is a 90-day temporary appointment; the court confirms it, and it almost always follows the parent’s wishes if the guardian is suitable.
• Who inherits, and at what age. Many parents delay a child’s inheritance to 21 or 25 and leave it in trust until then.
• Specific gifts. Jewellery, a car, a sum to a charity or a relative abroad.
• What should not go in the will. Assets with a named beneficiary (life insurance, RRSPs, TFSAs, pensions) and jointly owned property with a right of survivorship usually pass outside the will. Funeral wishes can be included but are not binding.

When a simple will is enough, and when it is not

A simple will leaves everything to your spouse, then to your children equally, names an executor and a guardian, and holds a young child’s share in trust until a set age. That covers most families, and we prepare simple wills at a flat fee. For a more complex will we tell you the applicable fee in advance, before any work starts.

You will probably need more than a simple will if you:

• own a business or shares in a private company (see multiple wills, which can reduce estate administration tax);
• have children from a previous relationship, or a spouse who is not the parent of your children;
• want to provide for a family member with a disability who receives ODSP (see Henson trusts);
• own property in Pakistan, India, the UAE or another country, where a separate will may be needed;
• want to leave a dependant out, which Ontario law limits.

What a will costs in Ontario

Fees vary by firm and by complexity. Will kits are cheap, and a lawyer-prepared simple will is usually a modest flat fee, often quoted together with the two powers of attorney. The costs that matter more are the ones a poor will creates later: a court application to interpret or validate it, a dispute between family members, or estate administration tax that proper planning could have reduced. Ontario’s estate administration tax is currently $15 for every $1,000 of estate value above the first $50,000, which is tax-free.

After your will is signed

• Keep the original somewhere safe and tell your executor where it is. A photocopy is not a will.
• Review it after any major change: marriage, separation, a birth, a death, buying or selling a home or business, or moving to another province or country.
• Do not write changes on the will itself. Changes are made by a short formal document (a codicil) or, more often, a new will.

Common questions

This article is general legal information about Ontario law as of October 2026, not legal advice. Rules and fees change; speak with a lawyer about your own situation.