DMajor

We recently tried to make some amendments to our wills and was surprised to be quoted almost the price we paid for the original wills.
Searching online for some alternatives we found a site which claimed that free wills are available to anyone living in Canada. No need to pay anything, it's all done over a zoom call.
Is this kosher, I don't believe anything is ever free, there's usually a catch?
Anyone heard of this?

BristolUK

I'm not sure why doing it on Zoom is easier for the lawyer - unless it's simply a way of them avoiding the costs of an office and they do it from home. Or maybe it just puts them in reach of more potential clients but what's the point if they are then doing it free?
So I could see cheaper via Zoom, but not free.

I see there are now some google results saying they won't charge but would rely on your goodwill to pay. This would be similar to many of the Tax return services which work so well for many of us (I pay for the family batch). But I see some comments about credit card details being needed, which you can then cancel by a deadline but that there may be practical difficulties in actually succeeding.

For something relatively straightforward and, if you have the witnesses, I'd have no qualms in using someone like legalwills.ca.
I did a dummy run, to see how it came out and all seemed good.

JonboyE

I am not surprised that a revised will costs nearly as much as the original will. Much of the same work is involved. Many lawyers will do pro bono work but the above doesn't sound right to me.

Will kits are OK if you have very simple affairs. BC, and other jurisdictions, give the courts the power to rectify a flawed will. If you leave everything to your spouse or, if they predecease you, equally to your kids, the courts will most likely make sure this is what happens even if you make a mistake in drafting your will and it is technically invalid. If you have more complicated affairs, such as a blended family, a business to deal with, or want to leave everything to a dog's home, a lawyer is worth every cent they charge.

dbd33

Isn't all lawyering done by Zoom? Apart from a few emails, I don't think I've communicated with my various lawyers any other way. Same with therapists, there's no need for them to be in the country anymore.

BristolUK

I don't know. I've only ever used one for buying/selling a house.

I do hear news reports about people "appearing" for legal proceedings via video. Is that the kind of thing you're doing?

Former Lancastrian

I had proceedings this morning via MS Teams and the lawyer was in Serbia.

Almost Canadian

I am in Court later this morning and will be attending via WebEx. England was doing telephones hearings for years before I came to Canada but it took the pandemic to shake the Canadian Court systems into the 21st century.

CanadaJimmy

I think for a simple amendment you can probably simply modify the will and do the paperwork yourself, as long as you use similar style language. I saw a case on the BC Courts judgment website a while ago where a handwritten note witnessed by a friend was able to completely overturn a previous will that was completed and filed with a lawyer. As someone else mentioned the courts are quite forgiving and flexible when it comes to wills, and at the end of the day it is an executor who will be following the instructions, so as long as they are clear and easy to understand, should be fine.

The free part is a bit fishy but I don't really know the details of this if it is a scam.