Discussions

I am thinking about preparing on an online will instead of going to a lawyer. Can I have some opinions from anyone who have done this. Is this just as good as going to a lawyer?

I did my will online about five years ago. I’m pretty sure it was on legalwills.ca and was about $40ish. It was pretty straight forward - basically fill in the blanks. Then I printed it and put it into a fireproof safe after it had been signed and witnessed. It looks like a legal document with all the legal jargon on it. If you don’t have a complicated estate, then I think it’s a very practical way of doing a will. It also prompted me to input some things I hadn’t even thought of, so I was happy to have done that rather than creating something on my own (not to mention, I was likely to “never get around to” making an appointment with a lawyer to have one drawn up. So now I at least have something!).

If your Last Will is simple you can just do a “holographic” Will (i.e. completely hand written). This does not even need to be witnessed. (Initial any changes you make though).  
 
In a very basic sense anything handwritten, signed, & dated is a legal document... not just Wills... or anything typed, signed & dated with witnesses is also a legal document.  
 
Wills do not need to be as complicated as they make it seem on television unless you want it to be. All legal documents, even ones done by lawyers, are open to interpretation by the Court, so even the most expensive lawyer cannot make a Will bulletproof.  
 
My partner’s Will was 1 page handwritten as he just left everything to me. Sadly he is deceased. Though the actual estate was somewhat substantial the Will was not, as everyone knew his final wishes. It is primarily when you get into multiple beneficiaries or your family does not know your wishes for your estate that you run into complications.  
 
We also had Powers of Attorney for Healthcare and Living Wills though, so that might have made his Last Will easier to execute.  
 
I have looked at many online Wills and most, if not all, would stand-up quite well to interpretation, even some of the “free” will templates. If you want to add a layer of caution try to find one that is specific to or includes your province, as it will be more designed around its laws.  
 
I say save your money from lawyers.