Hi,

Am full of weird and wonderful questions today......

Does anyone know if wills made here in UK will be valid in Canada or is it best to wait and have one done once (if) we get to Canada?

You have to get a new one when you get to Canada. My husband and I had one done recently in Calgary at the cost of around 250 dollars.

Thanks Smelly - you've just saved us about £100

Moving outside the jurisdiction does not invalidate a will, HOWEVER it is best to have a will in the jurisdiction where most of your assets are.

You should also check the law of the new jurisdiction as to whether a will is the appropriate place to express your views about guardianship of any children left behind.

Thanks - it is mainly the guardianship of the children that we are most interested in. We are planning to come over mostly empty handed except for clothes etc (am most excited about potential shopping trips!!!)

Hi,

When we had our will written up, we was told that we would need to get a new one when we moved to Canada. This was off the guy writing the will.

Sharon

Very interesting.

My wife and I are about to finalise the instructions to our solicitor to have our wills written. We have a property in the UK which is being rented. And a house we will be moving into when we get to Ottawa in a couple of weeks. There are no kids so where should the will be written? Our solicitor said a will written here would be valid in Canada.

Russ...

Only insofar as it deals with assets in the UK. For the Canadian property you will need a Canadian Will. The English one would be valid insofar as it goes but obtaining probate may be problematic due to the way that Canadian law requires a solicitor's input on most things that deal with real property - crazy but true

That fee seems reasonable. I was quoted $550 for a standard will in Toronto, including Power of Attorney.

My Will in Canada cost over $800. Kids, few assets, nasty ex. UK one not valid here for Canadian assets and the kids.

Simple wills done for a couple of hundred bucks here :

http://www.janeharveylawyers.com/

also a good firm for cheap conveyancing; one of the very few that will tell you what they charge for a specific service.

Sounds about right.

We paid around $300 for both mine and my wife's.

Yes it would pay to shop around. The somewhat complex legal situation with my kids likely bumped up the cost. That part alone took a couple of hours just to get straight.

Oh and this is BC. They probably charged me for the view from the lawyers office.