This bill replaces key parts of PEI’s Probate Act with a new Wills Act that modernizes how wills are made, altered and given effect. It sets simple formal requirements (writing and signatures with two witnesses), preserves holographic wills, creates exceptions for service members and sailors under 18, and allows the court to validate non‑compliant wills, alterations and minors’ writings when they reflect testamentary intent.
The Act also adopts the 1973 Convention Providing a Uniform Law on the Form of an International Will (including its Annex) into PEI law, designates all active Law Society members as authorized persons for international wills, and makes several consequential repeals and amendments. The changes shift the balance toward accessibility and judicial flexibility while preserving specific safeguards against undue influence and invalid dispositions.
At a Glance
What It Does
The bill prescribes a statutory framework for wills: written form, signature (by testator or on their behalf), and attestation by at least two witnesses present at the same time; it validates holographic wills and creates statutory exceptions for service members and sailors under 18. It gives the Estates Section of the Supreme Court express power to validate non‑compliant wills, alterations and writings of minors when proof shows testamentary intent.
Who It Affects
Estate practitioners, trust and estate litigators, executors and estate administrators, the Law Society of Prince Edward Island (as the pool of authorized persons for international wills), financial institutions and benefit-plan administrators who receive wills or beneficiary designations, and military members or sailors making informal wills.
Why It Matters
The Act reduces the risk that imperfectly executed but clearly testamentary documents are discarded, while codifying rules (and exceptions) practitioners must apply in probate. Adoption of the international‑will Convention creates a recognized route for cross‑border wills but also imposes procedural duties on authorized persons and on courts asked to recognize international wills.
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What This Bill Actually Does
The Wills Act sets out who may make a will, how a will must be executed, and what happens when a document falls short of those formalities. It keeps the basic structure most lawyers expect: a will must be in writing and signed by the testator (or by someone signing at the testator’s direction), with at least two witnesses who are present together and who attest or acknowledge signatures.
The statute explicitly recognizes holographic wills made entirely in the testator’s handwriting and preserves the ability for a testator’s signature to appear anywhere on the document so long as the signature shows an intent to give effect to the document.
The Act creates targeted exceptions for younger service members and sailors: people under 18 who are serving in the Canadian Forces or are sailors on voyage may validly make or alter wills without meeting the normal age or witnessing rules; the Act sets out how to prove active service. It also governs how alterations, revocations and revivals work: alterations must meet the same formalities as wills (subject to the service‑member exception), revocation can be by subsequent will, written declaration or destruction with intent, and revived wills are treated as made at re‑execution.Crucially for contested estates, the Estates Section of the Supreme Court has broad discretionary power to validate imperfect documents.
On application and satisfactory evidence, the court can order that a non‑compliant document embodies the deceased’s testamentary intention, validate informal alterations or obliterations, and admit certain writings made by minors as wills if the minor understood the effects and it is reasonable to do so. The court may also allow restoration of illegible text and extend time limits in remediation proceedings.The Act changes a number of default presumptions: marriage does not automatically revoke a will, but a termination of a spousal relationship (for example, separation for more than two years, divorce, or a property agreement) will operate to deem certain gifts to a former spouse revoked unless the court finds a contrary intention.
The statute sets a clear order for handling failed gifts and clarifies how references to children, land and movables should be interpreted. Finally, the Act brings the 1973 Convention on International Wills into force in PEI, designates active Law Society members as authorized persons, and repeals specified Parts and the Schedule of the Probate Act, with commencement by proclamation.
The Five Things You Need to Know
Section 6 requires a written will signed by the testator (or by another at the testator’s direction) with the signature acknowledged or witnessed in the simultaneous presence of at least two witnesses who attest or acknowledge their signatures.
A holographic will is valid if it is wholly in the testator’s handwriting and signed by the testator (section 6(4)).
Sections 14–16 authorize the court to validate non‑compliant wills, informal alterations or writings of minors as wills on proof of testamentary intention; those validation powers apply regardless of when the document, marking or obliteration was made.
A disposition to a witness (or a person who signed for the testator or an interpreter) is void against the estate, the witness’s spouse and those claiming under them unless the court, within a six‑month limitation from probate (extendable for cause), orders otherwise (section 17).
The Act adopts the Convention Providing a Uniform Law on the Form of an International Will and designates all active Law Society of PEI members as authorized persons to act in connection with international wills (sections 24–26).
Section-by-Section Breakdown
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Definitions, application and transitional reach
Part 1 sets the statutory vocabulary—‘beneficiary’, ‘disposition’, ‘obliteration’, ‘spouse’, ‘testator’ and ‘will’—and says the Act applies to wills made on or after proclamation. Importantly, sections 14–16 (the court’s validation powers) apply to documents and markings regardless of when they were made, provided the testator dies on or after proclamation; that creates a specific transitional rule preserving access to court remediation for older imperfect documents.
Who can make a will and the formal requirements
This core part fixes the minimum age at 18, but creates exceptions for Canadian Forces members and sailors under 18 and for those on active service, with a prescribed method for proving service. It requires a written instrument and a signature (by the testator or on their behalf) with at least two witnesses present together who attest or acknowledge signatures; permits holographic wills made entirely in the testator’s hand; allows signatures not placed at the end if intention is clear; and makes alterations valid only if re‑executed under the same formalities (subject to the service‑member exception). The Part also clarifies revocation, revival, and that wills need not be ‘published.’
Court validation, interpretation rules and failed gifts
Part 3 gives the Estates Section express authority to declare non‑compliant documents effective as wills or to validate informal alterations, obliterations or minor’s writings upon satisfactory evidence of testamentary intent. It permits restoration of illegible terms, admits contextual evidence to determine intent, and sets rules for interpreting references to children, land and movables. The Part sets a statutory cascade for failed gifts—alternate beneficiary, descendants by representation, residuary beneficiaries, then intestacy—and removes automatic revocation on marriage while deeming provisions to a former spouse revoked when the spousal relationship has terminated under enumerated circumstances.
International wills: Convention adoption and authorized persons
This Part incorporates the 1973 Convention and its Annex into PEI law. It confers force of law on the Convention’s uniform form of international wills and prescribes that active members of the Law Society are authorized persons able to supervise and certify international wills. The Annex’s certificate-based process and safekeeping rules will now operate within PEI, subject to the usual rules for recognizing foreign formalities.
Consequential repeals, amendments and commencement
The Act repeals Parts III and VII and associated Schedule and Annex of the Probate Act and makes consequential edits to the Interpretation Act and to the Designation of Beneficiaries Under Benefit Plans Act to reflect the new Wills Act citation. It also preserves that the new regime comes into force by proclamation, which leaves room for a staged transition and administrative preparations.
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Every bill creates winners and losers. Here's who stands to gain and who bears the cost.
Who Benefits
- Testators with informal or imperfectly executed wills — the court’s validation powers increase the chance a document reflecting a clear testamentary intention survives probate without requiring strict re‑execution.
- Military members and sailors under 18 — the statutory exception allows valid wills or alterations while on active service or voyage, removing the age barrier for that group.
- Beneficiaries in complex family situations — the Act’s clear rules on failed gifts, descendant representation and interpretation reduce uncertainty when named beneficiaries predecease the testator or when relationships change.
- Cross‑border testators and practitioners — adoption of the international wills Convention simplifies drafting and recognition of internationally executed wills for clients with assets or connections abroad.
- Law Society members — designation as authorized persons creates a new professional role (and potential service line) in supervising and certifying international wills.
Who Bears the Cost
- Estate lawyers and litigators — broader court validation powers will likely increase applications, evidence gathering and contested proceedings, adding time and expense for practitioners and their clients.
- The Estates Section of the Supreme Court — the court will absorb additional remedial work: deciding validation applications, hearing evidentiary disputes over testamentary intention and supervising restoration of obliterated text.
- Witness‑beneficiaries — although allowed to attest, anyone who is a witness (or who signs for the testator or interprets) risks having their beneficial disposition voided unless they secure a court order.
- Law Society — acting as the designated body for international wills brings administrative and training responsibilities, and members acting as authorized persons assume certificate and safekeeping duties without a specified funding mechanism.
- Benefit‑plan administrators and financial institutions — will need to align internal intake and acceptance procedures with the new statutory definitions and consequential amendments to beneficiary designation rules.
Key Issues
The Core Tension
The Act’s central dilemma is accessibility versus security: it lowers technical barriers to giving effect to a testator’s clear intent (holograph wills, service‑member exceptions, and judicial validation) but shifts risk onto estates, courts and legacy beneficiaries by relaxing formal safeguards designed to deter fraud and undue influence; choosing between those legitimate goals—making it easier for ordinary people to leave property as intended and protecting estates from invalid or coercive exercises—is the policy trade‑off at the heart of the bill.
The Act intentionally trades formal rigidity for remedial flexibility. Giving the court broad power to validate documents that do not meet prescribed formalities improves access to testamentary intent but raises evidentiary and fraud‑risk concerns.
Practitioners will need to prepare fuller corroborating evidence (witness affidavits, contemporaneous notes, records of safety deposit boxes) when assisting clients with informal wills or when mounting validation applications. The statute’s silence on evidentiary standards beyond “satisfied on evidence” leaves the intensity of inquiry to judicial development, which introduces short‑term uncertainty.
The rule voiding dispositions to witnesses while simultaneously allowing witnesses to attest for evidentiary purposes creates a split incentive: witnesses can still prove a will but risk forfeiting a gift unless they apply for court relief within a six‑month window from probate (extendable for cause). That limitation may generate rush litigation and strategic behaviour by interested parties.
Adoption of the 1973 Convention simplifies international forms but imports a certificate process and safekeeping norms that rely on Law Society members; the Act does not provide administrative support, leaving the Society and individual lawyers to determine operational practices.
Finally, the repeal of portions of the Probate Act and the postponement of commencement by proclamation create implementation questions: how will existing probate practices be adjusted, what transitional forms and court rules will apply, and how should registry and benefit‑plan processes be updated? Those procedural gaps matter in practice and will require government regulations or court practice directions to avoid short‑term disruption.
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