{"id":4599,"date":"2022-04-20T13:15:53","date_gmt":"2022-04-20T13:15:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.dreyerandassociates.ca\/?p=4038"},"modified":"2023-04-05T13:29:24","modified_gmt":"2023-04-05T20:29:24","slug":"what-to-know-about-holograph-wills","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.dreyerandassociates.ca\/resources\/what-to-know-about-holograph-wills\/","title":{"rendered":"Here\u2019s What You Need to Know about Holograph Wills"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">BC has very rigid rules that govern what makes a will eligible to be deemed valid. These are:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The will can be deemed to be a valid will when it is signed<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The will can be deemed to be a valid will when it is witnessed by two people or more<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The will can be deemed to be a valid will when it is in writing<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">There are certain cases wherein invalid documents can still be ruled valid, for as long as the testator&#8217;s intentions were clear.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><b>Holograph Wills<\/b><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The term &#8216;holograph wills&#8217; may seem familiar, at the very least. It is an actual legal document: holograph wills are handwritten and signed by the will-writer. However, they are either not witnessed at all or simply unsigned by any witnesses that were present. As it falls outside BC&#8217;s strict qualifications for a valid will, having a holograph will may seem to render matters confusing and\/or futile.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In truth, there are particular scenarios wherein the document can end up becoming a valid will down the line.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Holograph wills typically come about in the moments before a person dies so that they can jot down intentions of estate distribution. This happens as a result of them being unwilling or unable to make a will that is valid prior. When a person does not leave a valid will, the courts will attempt to cure documents that present final intentions prior to dying intestate (without a will that is valid).<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">For some provinces, a holograph will needs no curing; it can stand alone and be considered valid. A classic example comes from Saskatchewan, specifically Harris Estate (1948). A farmer had written a holographic will on his tractor&#8217;s fender after he had been pinned underneath it. Using a pocket knife, he etched the following words onto the fender: &#8220;In case I die in this mess I leave all to the wife.&#8221;<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The farmer had not just written his intentions on the fender, but also signed it. The courts ruled it to count as a valid will, as it met a holograph will&#8217;s requirements according to Saskatchewan&#8217;s estate laws.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">People living in BC, however, have no such luck. Holograph wills are not recognized under WESA (the Wills, Estates and Succession Act). Had the case of the farmer leaving a holographic will on his fender happened in BC, the will would be considered invalid since none of the elements of a valid will were present. That said, having a say in estate distribution is not strictly tied to having a valid will.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">BC courts have the capability to cure testamentary documents that are not legally valid into a will. The WESA&#8217;s s.58 has particular details and instructions on how and when a testamentary document could be cured in order to become a person&#8217;s valid final will and testament.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><b>Conclusion<\/b><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Holograph wills might sound like a whimsical term, but it is a very real and very legal one. It refers to a will that was handwritten and signed by the will-writer but had no witnesses at the time. Some states recognize them as valid as is; others will need to cure testamentary documents.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Are you looking for assistance from a <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dreyerandassociates.ca\/services\/wills-estates\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">wills and estates lawyer<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">? Contact Dreyer and Associates Family Lawyers today! We\u2019re committed to preserving the best interests of families across the Lower Mainland and the Fraser Valley.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>BC has very rigid rules that govern what makes a will eligible to be deemed valid. These are: The will can be deemed to be a valid will when it is signed The will can be deemed to be a valid will when it is witnessed by two people or more The will can be [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":4603,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","_wp_rev_ctl_limit":""},"categories":[49],"tags":[],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dreyerandassociates.ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4599"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dreyerandassociates.ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dreyerandassociates.ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dreyerandassociates.ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dreyerandassociates.ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4599"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.dreyerandassociates.ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4599\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4604,"href":"https:\/\/www.dreyerandassociates.ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4599\/revisions\/4604"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dreyerandassociates.ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4603"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dreyerandassociates.ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4599"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dreyerandassociates.ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4599"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dreyerandassociates.ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4599"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}