A will nobody can find is, in practice, a will that does not exist. Here is how wills are located in Yukon, and what the law expects of an executor who cannot find one.
Where to look in Yukon
| Item | Yukon |
|---|---|
| Governing statute | Wills Act and Estate Administration Act |
| Court | Supreme Court of Yukon |
| Handwritten (holograph) wills | Valid |
| Probate cost | A low flat fee structure. |
| Spouse’s share on intestacy | $75,000, set by section 82(3)-(4) of the Estate Administration Act and carrying no interest (unlike the Northwest Territories and Nunavut). Where an intestate leaves a spouse and issue and the estate does not exceed $75,000, the whole estate goes to the spouse; above that, the spouse takes the first $75,000 and then shares the residue with the issue (reported as one-half with one child, one-third with more than one child — the same residue split used in Ontario and several other provinces). Where there is a spouse and no issue, the spouse takes the whole estate. Section 92 matters more than the figure for most Yukon estates: on top of the $75,000 and the fraction, the spouse takes the household furnishings outright and a life estate in the family home. Section 94 bars a spouse separated for a year. The preferential share is payable only to a legally married spouse — a religious-only marriage is not a spouse here at all, and a common-law partner of twelve months has only a discretionary court application under s. 74, which must be brought within six months of the grant and bars a Dependants Relief Act claim. |
| Will registry | No general public will registry currently operates. The 2020 Wills Act amendment (in force 1 May 2021) gave the government a standalone power to “implement a registry that facilitates the availability of information respecting a will executed in Yukon” — but only “if the regulations permit”, and no such regulation has ever been made: “Wills” does not appear in Yukon’s consolidated index of regulations, and Yukon’s own wills-and-estates guidance does not mention a registry. The same amendment separately brought the international-wills Convention into force on 6 January 2022 — but that creates no register, only a will form. |
| Claims against the estate | Dependants Relief Act claims. 'Dependant' means: the surviving spouse (defined to include a common-law spouse — 12 months' cohabitation, or a marriage not legally valid but entered in good faith); a child under 16; a child 16 or over who cannot earn a livelihood because of mental or physical disability; and a grandparent, parent, or descendant who was actually financially dependent on the deceased for the 3 years before death. Like Prince Edward Island (and unlike Nova Scotia and Newfoundland and Labrador), an independent, able-bodied adult child has NO claim under this Act. |
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
- Wills Act, RSY 2002, c. 230 (as amended by S.Y. 2020, c. 15) — Yukon Legislation
- 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
- Preferential share spouse intestacy ontario — Treadstone Law
- Dependants relief claim ontario — Treadstone Law
- Holograph handwritten will ontario — Treadstone Law
- What is preferential share ontario intestacy — Treadstone Law
- Separated common law partner dependant support claim ontario — Treadstone Law
- Wills & estates practice — Treadstone Law