Alberta > Wills and Estates:What about holograph wills?A holograph will is a will you write entirely in your own handwriting. These wills are valid in Alberta, but they are not allowed in every province in Canada, so you should check if they are legally acceptable where you live. The advantages to holograph wills are that they do not require any witnesses and they can be prepared quickly and privately. There are some very interesting examples of holograph wills. The most famous in Canada being the farmer who was trapped under his tractor when it rolled over on top of him and who managed before he died to scratch on the fender that he left his estate to his wife! Certainly, holograph wills are handy in an emergency, and some people will write them before leaving on a trip or on some other occasion when time is short. However, it is very easy to make a mistake or write in a way to leave confusion or ambiguity, and so holograph wills are often not a good idea.
July 1996 |
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