When looking at the data for this province, many a survey will tell you that a little more than half of all Ontarians do not have a will. It’s statistics like these that drive the need for “Make a Will Month”, the annual November campaign to raise awareness about the importance of having a well-drafted and up-to-date will.
In Ontario, the OBA’s Make a Will Month program gives its members the opportunity to promote their expertise and educate their clients and the public about the benefits of having a properly-drafted will. Throughout November, the OBA is hosting free information sessions presented by wills and estates practitioners at public libraries and community hubs across Ontario. The OBA website features timely information on how lawyers can help with complex estate issues, such as blended families, dependants living with disabilities, cross-border matters and digital assets. Additionally, the OBA has a Virtual Witnessing Program which along with other incentives includes two on-demand Priority PD programs on best practices related to remote wills and powers of attorney.
Make a Will Month also gives us the opportunity to highlight some of the valuable tools we make available to help Law Society licensees in drafting wills for their clients.
Here’s a selection of current will drafting resources available through the Great Library:
- Lexis Practice Advisor – Wills, Trusts and Estates Ontario (contact refstaff@lso.ca with requests)
- features will drafting checklists, precedent wills and clauses, as well as practice notes contributed by leading estates practitioners
- O’Brien’s Encyclopedia of Forms – Wills and Trusts (contact refstaff@lso.ca with requests)
- includes sample wills, clauses and brief commentary to provide context for these precedents
- Law Society CPD papers from recent estates law programs (publicly and freely available on AccessCLE), such as:
- Estate Planning Precedents: A Solicitor’s Manual by Lindsay Ann Histrop (contact refstaff@lso.ca with requests)
- includes a wide variety of precedents covering all aspects of wills and estates
- Drafting Wills in Canada: A Lawyer’s Practice Guide, 2nd ed. by Robyn Solnik, Mary-Alice Thompson, Brian Gillingham (contact refstaff@lso.ca with requests)
- guidance and best practices for drafting wills, powers of attorney and other estate planning documents
Need more information about our wills and estates materials? Just ask us! Though you cannot access the library at this point in time, we are still available to provide remote guidance and aid.
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