Are handwritten wills valid in Alberta?

This is legal information only. For advice on your own circumstances, speak to a lawyer.

Holograph wills are valid in Alberta.

The Canadian position

Alberta operates under the Wills and Succession Act. Formal requirements — writing, signature, witnesses — determine validity.

A beneficiary or their spouse should never witness a will; the gift to them can be void even though the will stands.

The Islamic position

Islamic law prescribes no particular form for a wasiyyah; the classical concern is evidentiary, which matches the Canadian one.

Handwritten wills are disproportionately the ones that end up lost or ambiguous.

Researched — the schools differ

No school requires a lawyer, a notary or any set form: a wasiyyah is made by words, and the four are agreed that a written one operates exactly as a spoken one does. Where they part company is on who may make one — the Hanafi and Shafi’i schools require adulthood, the Maliki and Hanbali schools only discernment — and on what a document found in the deceased’s handwriting proves. Sound mind, freedom and a free will are conditions in all four, and all four let a testator revoke at any time.

All four Sunni schools researched and sourced. Reviewed 2026-09-01. Full positions, evidence and sources — Making a wasiyyah — form, capacity and revocation.

Note

This is legal information only. For advice on your own circumstances, speak to a lawyer.

Citations & sources

Every factual claim on this page traces to a source below. Details change — check the original source before relying on any figure, fee or legal position. Anything under “further reading” is related material, not a source for what is stated here.

Islamic primary sources

Sahih al-Bukhari, Book 55: Wills and Testaments (Wasaya) — Sunnah.com
Sahih Muslim, Book of Wills — Sunnah.com

Canadian legislation & government

Wills and Succession Act, SA 2010, c W-12.2 — Alberta King's Printer
Locating wills and documents — Law Society of Ontario