More Than Half of Canadians Have No Will. Here Is What Actually Happens to Your Money When You Die.
I want to start with two numbers.
53%. And 42%.
A 2024 survey by Narrative Research found that 53% of Canadians have no will. No instructions. No plan. Nothing.
And a separate study by the National Institute on Ageing found that 42% of Canadians admit they don’t even have a basic understanding of estate planning.
So more than half of us have no will. And nearly half of us don’t understand why that’s a problem.
That is not a personal failing. It’s a knowledge gap.
So let me fill it in, as simply as I can.
What Is a Will? (In Plain English)
A will is a legal document you write while you’re alive. It tells everyone what to do after you die.
It answers four key questions:
- Who gets my assets? Your house, your car, your bank accounts, your investments. The people who receive them are called your beneficiaries.
- Who is in charge of making it happen? This person is called your executor. They are responsible for carrying out everything in your will — filing your taxes, paying your debts, and distributing what is left to your beneficiaries.
- How do I want my debts and taxes handled? Without instructions, your executor has to figure this out with no guidance from you.
- If you have kids: who raises them, and how is their money managed? The person you name to raise your children is called your guardian. Your executor and your guardian do not have to be the same person — and often should not be.
That’s it. A will is your instruction manual for after you die.
Without it, nobody knows what you wanted. And the government steps in to decide for you.
What the Government Formula Actually Looks Like
In Ontario specifically, more than 54% of people have no will. That means the majority of people in this province are leaving these decisions to the government.
In Canada, dying without a will is called dying “intestate.” It basically just means: you left no instructions.
When that happens, Ontario has a law called the Succession Law Reform Act. That law decides everything.
Here is how Ontario splits up your estate if you have no will:
Spouse only, no kids: your spouse gets 100% of everything
Spouse and kids: your spouse gets the first $350,000, then the rest is split — spouse gets one-third, kids split the other two-thirds equally
Kids only, no spouse: your kids split everything equally
If you have no spouse or kids: your parents get everything
No spouse, kids, or parents: your brothers and sisters split it
No family at all: the provincial government keeps your money
It is not flexible. There is no “but we were together for 12 years.” There is no “but I wanted to leave something to my best friend.”
The formula is the formula.
The Common-Law Trap
This is the one that catches the most people off guard.
If you are in a common-law relationship in Ontario and you die without a will, your partner gets nothing automatically.
Zero.
That includes the home you share — if it is in your name alone. A legally married spouse has protected rights to the matrimonial home. A common-law partner does not. You could share that home for 15 years and your partner would have no automatic legal right to stay if it is not in their name.
They can make a claim against the estate in court. But that is expensive, slow, and not guaranteed.
That means your partner of 10 years could be fighting in court while your money goes to a parent you haven’t spoken to in years.
This is not a rare edge case. This is the default.
The Estate Freeze While Your Family Waits
Here is something people almost never talk about.
When you die without a will, there is no appointed executor. Someone has to apply to the court to be put in charge of your estate. Until that happens, almost everything freezes.
- Bank accounts are frozen
- Investments cannot be touched
- Real estate cannot be sold
- Bills and mortgage payments may go unpaid
Your family is grieving. And they’re also stuck waiting for a court process to move before they can access money, pay bills, or deal with anything.
This can take months.
Who Is the Executor and Why It Matters
A will names an executor. That is the person responsible for carrying out everything in your will.
Think of the executor like the project manager of your estate.
They have to locate your will, notify your family, apply for probate (a court process that officially validates your will), pay your debts, file your final tax return with the CRA, get a tax clearance certificate, and then distribute what’s left.
If they distribute money before debts and taxes are settled, they can be held personally responsible. This is called a fiduciary duty.
Even for a simple estate, this process takes 12 to 24 months.
For estates with rental properties, corporations, or investment portfolios, it takes longer.
Choose your executor carefully. Not the obvious choice. The right choice.
I had a client who wanted her sister to be the executor. She trusted her completely. She loved her. It felt like the natural choice.
But she did something most people never do. She actually had the conversation.
She sat her sister down, explained what the role involved, and walked her through the estate. The rental properties. The tenants. The mortgage payments. The CRA filings. The lawyers.
Her sister was honest. She said: I love you, but I cannot deal with the rental portfolio. I would not know where to start.
So my client made a decision. She started slowly selling off her rental properties. Over time, she simplified her estate so that her sister could actually handle it.
She did not do that because she had to. She did it because she had the conversation.
How to choose
Most people never have that conversation. They name someone in a will, that person finds out when they’re already grieving, and then they discover they have no idea what they are supposed to do.
If you do not want to change your assets, then choose your executor accordingly. Choose someone who understands real estate. Who knows how to work with accountants and lawyers. Who has the time and the capability to manage what you are leaving behind.
And whoever you choose — have the conversation before you need to. Tell them what you own. Tell them what you want. Make sure they say yes with full information, not out of obligation.
The Two-Will Strategy
Most people think one will is enough. For many Canadians, it is.
But if you own assets that can be transferred without probate, you may be leaving money on the table. The two-will strategy is designed to capture that savings — and it is not just for corporations.
The idea is simple. You split your assets into two wills.
Primary will: covers assets that must go through probate — bank accounts, public investments, and most real estate
Secondary will: covers only the assets that qualify to skip probate
Only the primary will goes to court. The secondary will transfers its assets privately, without a probate certificate. No court. No fee on those assets.
What Goes Into the Secondary Will?
Two main categories qualify.
The first is shares in a private corporation. When someone dies holding shares in a private company, no bank or government office needs to get involved. The transfer happens through the corporation’s own internal share registry. No outside institution requires a probate certificate, so probate is simply not triggered.
On a $2 million corporation, that saves $30,000 in probate fees. The second will costs a few hundred to a thousand dollars more in legal fees. The math speaks for itself.
The second category is certain real estate — but only if it qualifies under something called the First Dealings Exemption.
Ontario switched its land registration system, and properties that were converted during that process — generally those acquired into the early 2000s — may qualify. If you have never transferred ownership since the switch — not to a spouse, not to a child, not once — your executor may be able to transfer that property without probate.
But you cannot assume your property qualifies. A lawyer must search the parcel register and verify the title history first. And be careful: transfer the property to anyone during your lifetime, and the exemption is permanently lost — even for a transfer to a family member.
A lawyer needs to check each property individually before it goes into your secondary will.
Who Runs Your Corporation After You Die?
This is the question most incorporated owners never think about.
The moment you die, your Power of Attorney becomes void. A POA only works while you are alive. It solves the incapacity problem — not the death problem.
If you were the sole director of your corporation, nobody has legal authority to operate it from the moment you die until your executor gets probate and exercises the share rights to appoint a new director. That gap can be weeks. Sometimes months.
During that window, nobody can sign a lease renewal. Nobody can authorize a repair. Nobody can access the corporate bank account.
Three things need to be in place to close that gap.
- A co-director. Adding a spouse or trusted person as a co-director means the corporation does not go headless the moment you die. Someone already has legal authority to keep things running.
- A shareholders agreement with clear death provisions. This document should spell out exactly what happens to your shares on death — who steps in, what voting rights look like during the transition, and how the executor is authorized to act.
- Banking authority that reflects all of the above. Your corporate bank account signing authorities need to match your shareholder agreement and your estate plan. If they do not line up, the bank will not act — no matter what your will says.
These three documents — your will, your shareholders agreement, and your banking authorities — need to be reviewed together. Your accountant and your estate lawyer need to work on this as a coordinated plan, not in isolation.
One More Thing: What If You’re Not Dead, Just Incapacitated?
Your will only kicks in after you die.
But what if you have a stroke? What if you’re in an accident and you can’t make decisions for a few months?
That is where a Power of Attorney comes in.
A Power of Attorney (POA) is a legal document that gives someone authority to act on your behalf while you are still alive.
Power of Attorney for Property: lets someone manage your finances. Pay your bills, manage your investments, deal with your real estate, file your taxes.
Power of Attorney for Personal Care: lets someone make health and personal care decisions on your behalf.
Without these documents, your family may need to go to court before they can act. Even for something as basic as paying your mortgage while you recover.
A will without a POA is an incomplete plan.
If You Have Kids, Read This Section Carefully
Everything above applies to everyone. This section is specifically for parents.
Let me show you what the formula actually delivers when there are young children involved.
Meet Mark and Sarah. Married. Two young kids: Emma, age 7, and Jacob, age 4.
Mark owns three things:
The family home, worth $900,000 — owned jointly with Sarah as joint tenants
A rental property, worth $800,000 — owned in Mark’s name only, mortgage-free
A personal investment account, worth $200,000 — in Mark’s name only
Mark dies without a will.
The family home passes directly to Sarah. Because it’s jointly owned, it transfers automatically. The formula doesn’t touch it.
But the rental property and investment account are in Mark’s name alone. They go through the estate. Total: $1,000,000.
Sarah gets the first $350,000 (the preferential share under section 45 of the Succession Law Reform Act). The remaining $650,000 is split: Sarah gets one-third ($216,667), Emma and Jacob each get one-third divided by two ($216,667 each).
But Emma is 7. Jacob is 4. Children cannot legally hold money in Ontario.
Each child’s $216,667 gets paid into court, managed by a government office, invested in fixed income funds. Sarah cannot simply access it for the kids’ school fees or hockey registration. She has to apply through the Office of the Children’s Lawyer every single time, with proof of need. At age 18, each child receives everything as a lump sum. No conditions, guidance or trust.
Mark never intended this. But without a will, this is exactly what the law delivers.
What If Both Parents Die?
Now imagine something worse. Both Sarah and Mark die at the same time. A car accident. It happens.
Problem one: who raises the kids? Nobody is automatically appointed. Any person can apply to the court for guardianship. The court evaluates every applicant based on the best interests of the children. You have no say because you left no written instructions. If nobody steps up, the provincial government may step in while the court sorts it out.
Problem two: who controls the money? When both parents are gone, the Office of the Public Guardian and Trustee takes over. A government office manages every dollar until each child turns 18. Then it all gets handed over in one lump sum with no conditions.
With a will, you name the guardian you want. You set up a testamentary trust — a trust created inside your will — with a trustee you actually trust. You decide when the kids receive the money. Age 25. In stages. On whatever terms you choose. Not a judge. Not a government office. You.
One thing many parents do not realize: your executor and your guardian do not have to be the same person. And often, they should not be.
Your executor handles the financial and administrative side of settling your estate. Your guardian is the person who actually raises your children day to day. These are two very different jobs. The best person to manage paperwork, coordinate with lawyers, and deal with CRA is not always the best person to parent your kids. And the best parent for your kids may have no interest in managing an estate.
You can name different people for each role. You should think carefully about both.
The Bottom Line
A will does not make your life complicated.
Not having one does.
You don’t need to be wealthy. You don’t need to own a business. If you have a bank account, a home, a car, or a child, you need a will.
Because right now, more than half of Canadians are leaving that decision to a provincial formula that has no idea who they are, what they wanted, or who they loved.
Don’t be that statistic.
If you own real estate, a corporation, or a business, make sure your accountant and your estate lawyer are working together. The tax strategy and the legal structure have to line up.
We help everyday Canadians navigate the confusing world of taxes so you can keep more of what you earn. If you want to make sure your estate plan is structured the right way, book a consultation with my team today.
Next Steps
We help everyday Canadians navigate the confusing world of taxes—so you can keep more of what you earn. Want to make sure you’re not leaving money on the table? Book a consultation with my team today.
Until next time, happy Canadian Real Estate Investing.
Cherry Chan, CPA, CA
Your Real Estate Accountant
