Book Appointment

Thank-you for trusting Old House Notary to prepare your Will.

We will be in touch with you very soon to discuss next steps. Alternatively, you are welcome to contact us at 250-871-7737 at your convenience. 

In the meantime, the following will assist you in preparing for the process.

 

Our process

Preparing a Will involves two appointments.

First Appointment

Your first appointment will be an interview with the Notary. Expect the interview to take approximately one hour. During that time the Notary will ask you detailed questions about your family and your estate. There are several reasons for this, such as meeting our legal requirement to assess your ‘capacity’ to create a Will (as defined by the Courts), to ensure there is no uncertainty as to what your wishes are, to mitigate the risk of your Will being successfully challenged after you’re gone, and to identify any opportunities where the Notary can provide advice to help you effectively plan your estate and affairs.

At the first appointment you will be required to pay $200 plus taxes. This covers the cost of the first appointment and is therefore non-refundable. We accept cash, debit, or credit card for payment.

Second Appointment

Your second appointment will also take approximately one hour. During your second appointment, we will review the Will and make any necessary revisions before executing the document. Once your Will is signed, we will register it with Vital Statistics.

The balance of our account is due and payable when you come back for the second visit to sign your Will.

How to Prepare for Your First Appointment

To prepare for your first appointment you will need to know:

  • The full legal names of children, parents and siblings (those in your family tree).
  • The mailing address of anyone who is named in your Will (as either Executor, Guardian, or Beneficiary).
  • What assets you own and their approximate value. You don’t need the exact amounts, and you do not need to bring statements to your appointment. If you own a home know the approximate value (you can obtain this from your latest BC Assessment notice).
  • Whose name the assets are held in. If you own a home with someone else, such as a spouse, know whether you own it as joint tenants or tenants in common. If you don’t have any documents showing this, we will pull a copy of the Title for a nominal fee.
  • What kind of bank accounts you have, what institution they are held with, and whether they are held jointly with anyone else.
  • What you hold by way of investments (e.g. TFSAs, RRSPs, RRIFs), what institution they are held with, and who the beneficiaries are.
  • If you intend to leave a gift to a charity you should have their full legal name, address, and charitable registration number.

If you have a previous Will, please bring that to your appointment.

You must also bring TWO pieces of valid ID, one of which must be government-issued picture ID.

What do I need to think about for the first appointment?

Before attending your first appointment, you should consider the following:

  • Who will be your Executor and any alternates.
  • If you have children under the age of 19, consider who you would like to name as guardian and any alternates.
  • Who will be your beneficiary or beneficiaries (and alternates if any of them predecease you).
  • Who will inherit your estate in the event of a family tragedy (that is, you, your spouse, and your children all die in a common disaster).
  • If you wish to do a specific list of items to give away.
  • Where you intend to keep your original Will (e.g. at home, safety deposit box).
  • Consider what you would like in terms of funeral arrangements.