No. There are no benefits whatsoever to not having a Will in place – even for singles without children.
According to research conducted by Statistics Canada, this issue is growing ever more important. The fact is, Canadians are having fewer children than ever before. Consequently, the proportion of Canadians without any children has never been higher. The need to have a Will for those with and without children, however, will never change.
The importance of a Will cannot be understated. The unfortunate reality is that upon death, an individual is no longer able to communicate their true intentions on how they would like their estate to be allocated. A properly executed Will provides individuals with the ability to outline these intentions so that upon death, succession can be carried out smoothly, without contention, and in accordance with their instructions.
Nonetheless, the National Institute on Ageing (NIA), in collaboration with RBC Royal Trust, recently produced a report from a 2022 survey that found that less than one-third of all adult Canadians say they have an estate plan and less than half of all adult Canadians have a Will.
In Canada, when an individual dies without a Will, the intestate laws of the provincial jurisdiction apply (the Succession Law Reform Act, in Ontario). The problem is that these intestate laws will rarely match anyone’s true intentions. Furthermore, they should not be viewed as an equivalent alternative to a tailored Will.
Despite having children or not, everyone has final intentions that should be reduced to writing in a Will. Not having children does not invalidate the need for a Will. If anything, having no children results in a greater need for a Will since the beneficiaries won’t be clearly known and the intestate rules will likely be even farther removed from the true intent of the individual than an individual with children.
There are many considerations that require a single will-maker with no children to make a Will. Some questions that should be addressed include who will be named to administer the estate? How will the estate be allocated? Who are the beneficiaries and the proportions or the amounts they are to receive? What happens if the first-choice beneficiaries predecease the individual?
Furthermore, given the unique aspects of every individual’s circumstance, final intent, and Will, the intestate rules simply cannot be an accurate representation of a deceased’s true intent.
For example, pets are a common consideration in the drafting of Wills, especially for single individuals with no children. To ensure that pets who survive their owners are treated in accordance with their owner’s wishes, the wishes and instructions should be outlined in a Will. In doing so, important details such as where the pet should be rehomed and how the pet should be cared for can be addressed.
Wills are the last word you as an individual will have about how to divide your assets among those you care about. Do not leave the decision to be made by a cold, dry piece of legislation.
This blog post was written by Heather Austin-Skaret, a Partner in the Real Estate, Wills and Estates, and Estate Litigation teams, and Articling Student Colton Allen. Heather can be reached at 613-369-0356 or at Heather.Austin-Skaret@mannlawyers.com.
