What is a Will?

Although witnesses are not needed, you may want to have witnesses in case there is a dispute about your Will. In this case, you may want to follow the witnessing rules under provincial law. Under these laws, witnesses cannot be someone who is going to inherit under your Will or the spouse of someone who is going to inherit under your Will.

An Estate is anything a person owns or has a right to. Estates can include:

• cash
• bank accounts
• cars
• furniture
• money from a settlement
• land or buildings on the reserve that you have the right to possess

Estates do not include:

• anything that is owned jointly, such as a bank account, house or land
• anything left to a specific person, such as life insurance or investments

Many of the reasons to have a Will are the same whether you live on a reserve or not. These include being able to name someone to look after your Estate when you die and naming someone as a guardian for your children under 18. But the main reason is that you can decide who should inherit your Estate. Without a Will, other rules will apply.

For example, in a Will you can leave your land on the reserve to any member of your First Nation. If you do not have a Will, the law says your land can go to people like your siblings or parents if they are members of your First Nation. But no one else, such as nieces and nephews, can inherit your reserve land unless you have a Will.