How to Find Out if Someone Had a Will

There is no national registry

Canada has no single place to look. Quebec maintains two near-universal registers — one at the Chambre des notaires, one at the Barreau — with a joint portal that searches both and returns a certificate from each. British Columbia runs a government Wills Registry through its Vital Statistics Agency, where filing a wills notice costs about $17.

Ontario and most other provinces have neither. Wills are located through the deceased's lawyer, their banks, their home, and private registries. That gap is the reason private registries exist.

Where to actually look

1. Every lawyer the deceased used — and the successor firm if the practice has closed.
2. Safety deposit boxes at every bank they held an account with. Most banks permit a supervised search specifically to look for a will.
3. The home: safes, filing cabinets, with tax records, and digital storage.
4. Will registries — government where one exists, private otherwise.
5. The provincial law society, which may hold records for a wound-up practice.
6. The deceased's accountant, financial advisor and insurance broker.

What a diligent search means legally

An executor applying for a grant where no will has been found must swear an affidavit of diligent search. It is sworn evidence describing every step taken and every institution contacted.

This is not a formality. If a will surfaces after the estate has been administered as an intestacy, the person who swore that affidavit is exposed.

When the original cannot be found

Where the original will was last known to be in the deceased's possession and cannot be located, a court may presume it was destroyed deliberately — and administer the estate as an intestacy.

The presumption can be rebutted with evidence about how the will was stored and whether the deceased intended to revoke it. Rebutting it costs money and is not guaranteed. A copy may sometimes be admitted with supporting evidence.

Why this is a religious question too

The hadith on wills speaks of the document being kept ready and available. Findability is part of the obligation, not an administrative afterthought.

A will that cannot be found produces exactly the outcome a wasiyyah exists to prevent: distribution by a provincial formula that gives parents nothing and divides equally between sons and daughters.

The Canadian legal detail

Treadstone Law is an Ontario firm with a wills and estates practice. These go further into the Canadian side of what is covered above:

• Executor closing estate cra clearance
• How soon after death apply probate ontario
• Executor step by step duties ontario
• What is estate administration tax ontario
• Adding co owner triggers partial deemed disposition ontario
• Appeal probate decision ontario
• Passing of accounts by affidavit no hearing ontario
• Challenging estate trustee appointment ontario

Common questions

Can I search a will registry myself?

Typically an executor named in a will, or a family member applying to administer the estate, can search on proof of death.

Does registering a will make it valid?

No. A registry records that a will exists and where it is kept. Validity is a separate question governed entirely by your province's formal requirements.

What if the lawyer who drafted it has retired?

Contact the provincial law society. Firms winding up must make arrangements for client files, and the society can often say where they went.

Is a photocopy of a will any use?

Sometimes. A copy may be admitted with evidence explaining the original's absence, but it is a court application rather than a routine step.