Will – Personal Articles to Spouse, Residue to Spouse for Life, then to Children (Canada)

Creating a Last Will & Testament is a key part of financial planning, no matter how young or healthy you may be. If you have children, it's essential to plan for their future, and a Will is of the most important legal documents you can create to ensure that they won't be entangled in a lengthy probate process.

This Will is specifically designed for the situation where the testator (the person making the will) is a married person with children. The Will first instructs the executor (also known as the trustee), in this case the husband of the testator, to distribute specific property to a specified recipient (referred to as a beneficiary) (e.g. daughter will receive family jewelry). All other personal belongings will go to the surviving spouse. The remainder, after the testator’s debts are paid off, to be held in trust with the income to be paid to the surviving spouse. When the surviving spouse dies, the remainder will then be distributed to the testator’s children in equal shares. This Will also provides that if a beneficiary is not yet 30 years old, the executor (trustee) will hold and invest the property/money in trust for the beneficiary and will distribute the funds to the beneficiary in three stages. At age 21, the beneficiary will begin receiving the income made by his trust assets. At age 25, the beneficiary will receive one-half of the trust assets. At age 30, the beneficiary will receive the remainder of the trust assets.

This packet includes:
• Information on making a Will,
• Explanations of general terminology,
• Instructions on signing a Will, and
• Will with personal article to spouse and residue to spouse for life

Summary of Will Provisions:
1) Named Executor
2) Specific Bequests
3) Personal Articles to Wife
3) Residue to wife for life, then to children equally
4) Language if children are not 30 years old for funds to be distributed in stages

This form can be used in the following provinces: Alberta, British Columbia, Manitoba, New Brunswick, Newfoundland and Labrador, Northwest Territories, Nova Scotia, Nunavut, Ontario, Prince Edward Island, Saskatchewan and Yukon.