# Thinking of making a will? If you're in Canada, don't bother! **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [December 1, 2010, 10:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thinking-of-making-a-will-if-youre-in-canada-dont-bother/562527 "2010-12-01T10:45:17Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 6
**Author:** ![kidchameleon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/898d66/32.png) [@kidchameleon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kidchameleon)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2011, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thinking-of-making-a-will-if-youre-in-canada-dont-bother/562527/101 "2011-01-26T19:05:10Z")
I wonder if you could get around some of these restrictions by incorporating one’s possession and then distributing stock to those heirs one wants to have the most. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2011, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thinking-of-making-a-will-if-youre-in-canada-dont-bother/562527/102 "2011-01-26T19:31:13Z")
> [@Nava](#): > > So a spouse is not an heir unless the deceased specifically makes the survivor an heir? From what I remember from property law, in most American jurisdictions, there are heirs only when a person dies intestate (without a will). Those designated to inherit by a will are not heirs; they are devisees or beneficiaries. ---
**Author:** ![KarlGrenze](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/dbc845/32.png) [@KarlGrenze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KarlGrenze)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2011, 11:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thinking-of-making-a-will-if-youre-in-canada-dont-bother/562527/103 "2011-01-26T23:02:43Z")
> [@acsenray](#): > > From what I remember from property law, in most American jurisdictions, there are heirs only when a person dies intestate (without a will). Those designated to inherit by a will are not heirs; they are devisees or beneficiaries. **acsenray** , she was talking, IIRC, of Puerto Rico, which has a civil code and does not follow the same laws in other states regarding things like wills (which is what is being discussed here). And in PR, if my dad where to die tomorrow (knocks wood, shouldn’t happen in a while), my mom would not receive a penny from his estate (whatever that may be), unless my dad has previously written a will declaring that mom will inherit X amount from him. ---
**Author:** ![Frank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Frank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frank)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2011, 1:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thinking-of-making-a-will-if-youre-in-canada-dont-bother/562527/104 "2011-01-27T01:59:52Z")
> [@abused\_always](#): > > He and his ex had even signed papers a few years back stating that she would give up her dower rights and that she would not be able to receive his life insurance and pension… His life insurance goes to the beneficiary of record. Regardless of what papers she and he may have signed, he needed to change the beneficiary. (Signing the papers may have been a legal prerequisite to that change, especially if they were still married at the time, but he still needed to actually make the change.) I’ll admit to surprise that the company is paying a widow’s pension to an ex-wife, but unless you and your brother are still minors, you wouldn’t be getting any benefit from that anyway. In general, neither life insurance nor a pension are part of an estate–they are seperate benefits under separate rules. ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2011, 4:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thinking-of-making-a-will-if-youre-in-canada-dont-bother/562527/105 "2011-01-27T04:35:04Z")
> [@Kimstu](#): > > If you don’t like that simple fact of life, the remedy is equally simple: don’t die. Problem solved. “Don’t actually have any property” works, too. ---
**Author:** ![Spoons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spoons/32/3141_2.png) [@Spoons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoons)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2011, 6:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thinking-of-making-a-will-if-youre-in-canada-dont-bother/562527/106 "2011-01-27T06:21:39Z")
> [@Cat\_Whisperer](#): > > Since she signed papers saying she was relinquishing claim to the insurance, it sounds like it should go to his children instead. To address this point, life insurance policies often are not included as part of a testator’s estate. They have a designated beneficiary (which can be the estate, which is how they can form part of it); who receives the proceeds of the policy when the policyholder dies. The beneficiary of the policy is not named in the will, but he or she must be named on the policy. As for “signing papers,” I’d be curious to know just what kind of papers were signed. The reason is that generally, only the policyholder can change the designated beneficiary–or, in other words, the beneficiary has no say in whether they continue to be the beneficiary. I’ve changed the beneficiary on the life policies I hold–the insurance company supplied me with the forms they required, I filled them out and signed them, and mailed them back. I needed no signature or other agreement from the former beneficiary: my ex-wife. I am, however, working on a matter where a handwritten, home-drafted “agreement” is key to a matter in issue. Is this “signed paper” enforceable to the degree required to relinquish the wife’s claim to her husband’s property in case of breakup, or his estate in case of his death? I don’t think so. It goes against various statutes ranging from the _Insurance Act_ through the _Wills Act_ to the _Marital Property Act_ (plus a few others), is not in the prescribed form for exceptions to the rules in the _Acts_, and lacks a number of other elements that might make it valid. I’ll add that the facts of the matter make it appear that this document was signed under duress, which is yet another point not in the husband’s favour. Anyway, the point is that here is a “signed paper” that is possibly much like **a\_a** is describing: utterly unenforceable, despite the parties thinking that having a “signed paper” magically makes the agreement valid. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2011, 2:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thinking-of-making-a-will-if-youre-in-canada-dont-bother/562527/107 "2011-01-27T14:06:49Z")
Good information, **Spoons,** and (I think) re-inforcing my opinion that **a\_a** needs to be complaining to an actual estate lawyer rather than an internet message board. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Spoons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spoons/32/3141_2.png) [@Spoons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoons)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2011, 3:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thinking-of-making-a-will-if-youre-in-canada-dont-bother/562527/108 "2011-01-28T03:30:09Z")
> [@Cat\_Whisperer](#): > > Good information, **Spoons,** and (I think) re-inforcing my opinion that **a\_a** needs to be complaining to an actual estate lawyer rather than an internet message board. 🙂 Well, a lawyer of some sort, certainly. Given that insurance and pensions (the subjects of **a\_a** ’s complaint) involve contracts more than estates do, a lawyer more experienced in contract law may be better. Regardless, **a\_a** should consult a lawyer anyway–no doubt such a professional could at least examine the “signed papers” and explain why they were invalid to do what they purported to. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thinking-of-making-a-will-if-youre-in-canada-dont-bother/562527.md?page=5)