We did our Wills and assumed a copy was filed with BC. Were they?

Written by Joanne on April 9, 2015

1. We did our Wills in 1998 and they were filed/registered with BC. We assumed that meant our actual wills were filed. Were they?Do you recommend lawyers who do Wills?

The Wills Registry allows you to file a ‘notice’ that contains information such as the date of the Will and where you are keeping the original. When you die, if probate is required, your executor must search the Wills Registry. However, the Wills Registry does NOT store a copy of your Will.

You can STORE A COPY of your Will with the Nidus Personal Planning Registry—use the ‘Other Documents’ type of registration. Storing a copy of your Will may be more important than ever as a result of recent changes to the legislation governing Wills (see below).

Nidus does not publish a list of lawyers or notaries public who make Wills, however you can read about various legal professionals who support Nidus education activities and who are featured as guest experts—see Volunteer Contributions. Below are tips and contact information for locating a notary public or lawyer in your area.

It is a good idea to review your Will every few years. It may be timely since the law governing Wills and Estates changed as of March 31, 2014.

RESOURCES

Registry Fact Sheet: Personal Planning Documents

Registry FAQs

Nidus partnered with BC Courthouse Libraries to raise awareness about BC’s essential legal planning documents and the Nidus Registry. The kick off event was held on September 15th at the Vancouver Public Library CentralBranch with a panel of experts in the field. Questions that were submitted will be answered in a series of posts by Nidus and various panel members. To see photos from the event click Gallery; and click Registry Sing-a-long for the fun of it!