A Testator had a signed Will that they kept in their safety
deposit box. After the Testator died, the signed Will could not be
located in the safety deposit box, or at all. An unsigned copy of
the Will was found amongst the Testator's papers. What now?
To start, the Succession Law Reform Act provides that a
Will can be revoked by several methods, including by destroying it.
A Will may also be revoked by the making a new Will. When a
Testator's Will is prepared and executed, as a general rule it
causes all prior wills to be revoked.
In this hypothetical situation, if the last Will can be traced
to have been in the Testator's possession up to the date of
death, but after death it cannot be located, then there will be a
presumption that the Will cannot be located because the Testator
destroyed it with the intention of revoking it. If that presumption
is not overturned, then the Estate will pass on an intestacy (an
estate without any will) as the deemed revocation of
