A will nobody can find is, in practice, a will that does not exist. Here is how wills are located in Ontario, and what the law expects of an executor who cannot find one.
Where to look in Ontario
| Item | Ontario |
|---|---|
| Governing statute | Succession Law Reform Act |
| Court | Superior Court of Justice |
| Handwritten (holograph) wills | Valid |
| Probate cost | Estate Administration Tax: nil on the first $50,000, then about $15 per $1,000 of value above that (roughly 1.5%). A Small Estate Certificate is available for estates of $150,000 or less. |
| Spouse’s share on intestacy | $350,000 for deaths on or after 1 March 2021 ($200,000 before that date). |
| Will registry | No central, searchable government registry of wills. The Superior Court registrar’s office is a statutory depository where a living person may deposit a will for safekeeping (Estates Act, s. 2), but it is a per-registry deposit facility, not a province-wide index that can be searched on death — which is the gap a private registry fills. |
| Claims against the estate | Dependant support claims under Part V of the Succession Law Reform Act. Ontario does not have a BC-style wills variation regime for independent adult children. |
A diligent search
- The deceased’s lawyer, and the firm’s successor if it has closed.
- Safety deposit boxes at every bank they used.
- Home safes, filing cabinets, and digital storage.
- Will registries — government where one exists, private otherwise.
- The provincial law society, which may hold records for a wound-up practice.
Where an original will was last known to be with the deceased and cannot be found, a court may presume it was destroyed deliberately — and administer the estate as an intestacy. Documenting the search is what rebuts that.
Why this is a religious question too
The hadith on wills speaks of the document being "kept ready with him" — findability is part of the obligation, not an administrative afterthought. Recording that a will exists, and where, is the gap the Islamic Will Registry exists to close.
Common questions
What if we cannot find the original?
A copy may be admissible, but where the original was last known to be with the deceased a court may presume it was destroyed deliberately and treat the estate as intestate.
Who is allowed to search for a will?
Typically the executor named in a will, or a family member applying to administer the estate.
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 by the province's formal requirements.
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.
- What to do when someone has died — Canada Revenue Agency
- Succession Law Reform Act, RSO 1990, c S.26 — Government of Ontario
- Estate Administration Tax — Government of Ontario
- Locating wills and documents — Law Society of Ontario
- Surah an-Nisa 4:11–12, 4:176 — Quran.com
- Book of Wills (Wasaya) — Sahih al-Bukhari, Sunnah.com
- Religion by census metropolitan area, 2021 Census — Statistics Canada
- How does intestacy treat common law children — Treadstone Law
- Holograph handwritten will ontario — Treadstone Law
- Do small estates need probate ontario — Treadstone Law
- Moral obligation adult children dependant support ontario — Treadstone Law
- Filing deadline deceased person ontario — Treadstone Law
- Wills & estates practice — Treadstone Law