With increased mobility, it's becoming more common to have
assets in several jurisdictions, in which case, it is important to
create a comprehensive estate plan that considers all of your
assets and not just the assets located where you live. To deal with
assets in more than one jurisdiction, there are a number of
advantages in having multijurisdictional or separate situs wills
(
see our advisory on multijurisdictional and separate situs will
planning).
This blog focuses on what happens when a person dies leaving
assets in more than one jurisdiction and only one Will. If the
testator has worldwide assets, including some in Ontario, and a
Will in his or her home jurisdiction which has been probated there
and no separate Will in Ontario, the executor will most likely need
to apply to the Court in Ontario to have the Will probated in
Ontario as well. Without a local court appointment, the executor
will not have authority to administer any interest in Ontario
