Wills Act, R.S.A. 2000, c. W-12

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WILLS ACT
Chapter W-12
Table of Contents
	1	Definitions
	2	Application of Act
Part 1 
General
	3	Devises 
	4	Will to be in writing 
	5	Validity of will
	6	Military forces and mariners 
	7	Holograph will
	8	Signature 
	9	Wills of minors 
	10	Appointment by will
	11	Publication
	12	Incompetent attesting will
	13	Devise to witness
	14	Attestation by creditor
	15	Executor as witness
	16	Revocation
	17	Revocation by marriage
	17.1	Revocation by entering into an adult 
   interdependent partner agreement
	18	No revocation by presumption
	19	Alteration of will
	20	Revival of will
	21	Subsequent conveyance
	22	Will to speak from death
	23	Lapsed gifts
	24	Devises of land
	25	General disposition
	26	Gift of real property
	27	Gift to "heir"


	28	Words importing failure of issue
	29	Devise to trustee
	30	Option to purchase
	31	Devise to trustee
	32	Gift for charitable purpose
	33	Lapse of time in devise
	34,35	Lapse in gifts to children
	36	Gift to illegitimate children
	37	Disposition of mortgaged property
	38	Undisposed residue
Part 2 
Conflict of Laws
	39	Wills of land and movables
	40	Law in force governs
	41	Change of domicile
	42	Law of domicile
	43	Law where land situated governs
Part 3 
International Wills
	44	Definitions
	45	Application of Convention
	46	Uniform law in effect
	47	Validity under other laws
	48	Authorized persons
	49	Registration system
	50	Agreements re registration system
	51	Joint registration system
	52	Disclosure of information, etc.
	53	Use of registration system
	54	Regulations
		Schedule
HER MAJESTY, by and with the advice and consent of the 
Legislative Assembly of Alberta, enacts as follows:
Definitions
1   In this Act,
	(a)	"adult interdependent partner agreement" means an adult 
interdependent partner agreement as defined in the Adult 
Interdependent Relationships Act;
	(b)	"will" includes a testament, a codicil, an appointment by 
will or by writing in the nature of a will in exercise of a 
power and any other testamentary disposition.
RSA 2000 cW-12 s1;2002 cA-4.5 s80
Application of Act 
2(1)  Unless otherwise expressly provided, Parts 1 and 2 apply only 
to wills made on or after July 1, 1960.
(2)  For the purposes of this section, a will that is re-executed or is 
republished or revived by a codicil is deemed to be made at the 
time at which it is so re-executed, republished or revived.
(3)  The Wills Act, RSA 1955 c369, continues in force, as if 
unrepealed, in respect of wills made before July 1, 1960.
RSA 1980 cW-11 s2
Part 1 
General
Devises 
3   A person may by will devise, bequeath or dispose of all real and 
personal property, whether acquired before or after making the 
person's will, to which at the time of the person's death the person 
is entitled either at law or in equity, including
	(a)	estates for another's life, whether there is or is not a 
special occupant and whether they are corporeal or 
incorporeal hereditaments;
	(b)	contingent, executory or other future interest in real or 
personal property, whether the testator is or is not 
ascertained as the person or one of the persons in whom 
those interests may respectively become vested, and 
whether the testator is entitled to them under the 
instrument by which they were respectively created or 
under a disposition of them by deed or will;
	(c)	right of entry.
RSA 1980 cW-11 s3
Will to be in writing 
4   A will is valid only when it is in writing.
RSA 1980 cW-11 s4
Validity of will 
5   Subject to sections 6 and 7, a will is not valid unless
	(a)	it is signed at the end or foot of it by the testator or by 
some other person in the testator's presence and by the 
testator's direction,
	(b)	the testator makes or acknowledges the signature in the 
presence of 2 or more attesting witnesses present at the 
same time, and
	(c)	2 or more of the attesting witnesses subscribe the will in 
the presence of the testator.
RSA 1980 cW-11 s5
Military forces and mariners
6(1)  A member of the Canadian Forces while placed on active 
service pursuant to the National Defence Act (Canada), or a 
member of any other naval, land or air force while on active 
service, or a mariner or a seaman when at sea or in the course of a 
voyage, may make a will by a writing signed by that person or by 
some other person in that person's presence and by that person's 
direction without any further formality or any requirement of the 
presence of or attestation or signature by a witness.
(2)  For the purposes of this section, a certificate signed by or on 
behalf of an officer purporting to have custody of the records of the 
force in which a person was serving at the time the will was made 
setting out that the person was on active service at that time is 
sufficient proof of that fact.
(3)  For the purposes of this section, if a certificate under 
subsection (2) is not available, a member of a naval, land or air 
force is deemed to be on active service after the member has taken 
steps under the orders of a superior officer preparatory to serving 
with or being attached to or seconded to a component of such a 
force that has been placed on active service.
RSA 1980 cW-11 s6
Holograph will 
7   A testator may make a valid will wholly by the testator's own 
handwriting and signature, without formality, and without the 
presence, attestation or signature of a witness.
RSA 1980 cW-11 s7
Signature 
8(1)  Insofar as the position of the signature is concerned, a will is 
valid if the signature of the testator, made either by the testator or 
the person signing for the testator, is placed at or after or following 
or under or beside or opposite to the end of the will so that it is 
apparent on the face of the will that the testator intended to give 
effect by the signature to the writing signed as the testator's will.
(2)  A will is not rendered invalid by the circumstance that
	(a)	the signature does not follow or is not immediately after 
the foot or end of the will,
	(b)	a blank space intervenes between the concluding words of 
the will and the signature,
	(c)	the signature is placed among the words of a testimonium 
clause or of a clause of attestation or follows or is after or 
under a clause of attestation either with or without a blank 
space intervening, or follows or is after or under or beside 
the name of a subscribing witness,
	(d)	the signature is on a side or page or other portion of the 
paper or papers containing the will on which no clause or 
paragraph or disposing part of the will is written above the 
signature, or
	(e)	there appears to be sufficient space on or at the bottom of 
the preceding side or page or other portion of the same 
paper on which the will is written to contain the signature.
(3)  The generality of subsection (1) is not restricted by the 
enumeration of circumstances set out in subsection (2), but a 
signature in conformity with section 5, 6 or 7 or this section does 
not give effect to a disposition or direction that is underneath the 
signature or that follows the signature or to a disposition or 
direction inserted after the signature was made.
RSA 1980 cW-11 s8
Wills of minors
9(1)  A will made by a person who is under the age of 18 years is 
not valid unless at the time of making the will the person
	(a)	has or has had a spouse or adult interdependent partner,
	(b)	is a member of a component of the Canadian Forces
	(i)	that is referred to in the National Defence Act 
(Canada) as a regular force, or
	(ii)	while placed on active service under the National 
Defence Act (Canada),
		or
	(c)	is a mariner or seaman.
(2)  A certificate purporting to be signed by or on behalf of an 
officer having custody of the records of the force in which a person 
was serving at the time the will was made setting out that the 
person was at that time a member of a regular force or was on 
active service within subsection (1)(b) is sufficient proof of that 
fact.
(3)  Notwithstanding subsection (1), a person who
	(a)	is under the age of 18 years,
	(b)	has no spouse or adult interdependent partner, and
	(c)	has children,
may make a valid will to the extent that that person makes a 
bequest, devise or other disposition to or for the benefit of any or 
all of those children.
(4)  A person who has made a will under subsection (1) or (3) may, 
while under the age of 18 years, revoke the will.
RSA 2000 cW-12 s9;2002 cA-4.5 s80
Appointment by will 
10   A will made in accordance with this Act is as to form a valid 
execution of a power of appointment by will, notwithstanding that 
it has been expressly required that a will in exercise of the power 
be made in some form other than that in which it is made.
RSA 1980 cW-11 s10
Publication 
11   A will made in accordance with this Act is valid without other 
publication.
RSA 1980 cW-11 s11
Incompetent attesting will 
12   If a person who attested a will was at the time of its execution 
or afterwards has become incompetent as a witness to prove its 
execution, the will is not on that account invalid.
RSA 1980 cW-11 s12
Devise to witness 
13(1)  If a will is attested by a person to whom or to whose then 
spouse or adult interdependent partner a beneficial devise, bequest 
or other disposition or appointment of or affecting real or personal 
property, except charges and directions for payment of debt, is 
given or made in that will, the devise, bequest or other disposition 
or appointment is void so far only as it concerns the person so 
attesting, or the spouse or the adult interdependent partner or a 
person claiming under any of them, but the person so attesting is a 
competent witness to prove the execution of the will or its validity 
or invalidity.
(2)  If a will is attested by at least 2 persons who are not within 
subsection (1) or if no attestation is necessary, the devise, bequest 
or other disposition or appointment is not void under that 
subsection.
RSA 2000 cW-12 s13;2002 cA-4.5 s80
Attestation by creditor 
14   If real or personal property is charged by a will with a debt 
and a creditor or the spouse or adult interdependent partner of a 
creditor whose debt is so charged attests a will, the person so 
attesting, notwithstanding that charge, is a competent witness to 
prove the execution of the will or its validity or invalidity.
RSA 2000 cW-12 s14;2002 cA-4.5 s80
Executor as witness 
15   A person is not incompetent as a witness to prove the 
execution of a will or its validity or invalidity solely because the 
person is an executor.
RSA 1980 cW-11 s15
Revocation 
16   A will or part of a will is revoked only by
	(a)	the marriage of the testator, subject to section 17,
	(a.1)	the testator's entering into an adult interdependent partner 
agreement, subject to section 17.1,
	(b)	another will made in accordance with this Act,
	(c)	a writing declaring an intention to revoke and made in 
accordance with the provisions of this Act governing the 
making of a will, or
	(d)	burning, tearing or otherwise destroying it by the testator 
or by some person in the testator's presence and by the 
testator's direction with the intention of revoking it.
RSA 2000 cW-12 s16;2002 cA-4.5 s80
Revocation by marriage 
17   A will is revoked by the marriage of the testator except when
	(a)	there is a declaration in the will that it is made in 
contemplation of the marriage, or
	(b)	the will is made in exercise of a power of appointment of 
real or personal property that would not in default of the 
appointment pass to the heir, executor or administrator of 
the testator or to the persons entitled to the estate of the 
testator if the testator died intestate.
RSA 1980 cW-11 s17
Revocation by entering into an adult interdependent partner 
agreement
17.1   A will is revoked by the testator's entering into an adult 
interdependent partner agreement except when
	(a)	there is a declaration in the will that it is made in 
contemplation of entering into an adult interdependent 
partner agreement, or
	(b)	the will is made in exercise of a power of appointment of 
real or personal property that would not in default of the 
appointment pass to the heir, executor or administrator of 
the testator or to the persons entitled to the estate of the 
testator if the testator died intestate.
2002 cA-4.5 s80
No revocation by presumption 
18   A will is not revoked by presumption of an intention to revoke 
it on the ground of a change in circumstances.
RSA 1980 cW-11 s18
Alteration of will 
19(1)  Subject to subsection (2), unless an alteration that is made in 
a will after the will has been made is made in accordance with the 
provisions of this Act governing the making of a will, the alteration 
has no effect except to invalidate words or meanings that it renders 
no longer apparent.
(2)  An alteration that is made in a will after the will has been made 
is validly made when the signature of the testator and the 
subscription of witnesses to the signature of the testator to the 
alteration, or, in the case of a will that was made under section 6 or 
7, the signature of the testator, are or is made
	(a)	in the margin or in some other part of the will opposite or 
near to the alteration, or
	(b)	at the foot or end of or opposite to a memorandum 
referring to the alteration and written in some part of the 
will.
RSA 1980 cW-11 s19
Revival of will 
20(1)  A will or part of a will that has been in any manner revoked 
is revived only
	(a)	by re-execution of it with the required formalities, if any, 
or
	(b)	by a codicil that has been made in accordance with this 
Act that shows an intention to give effect to the will or 
part that was revoked.
(2)  Except when a contrary intention is shown, if a will which has 
been partly revoked and afterward wholly revoked, is revived, the 
revival does not extend to the part that was revoked before the 
revocation of the whole.
RSA 1980 cW-11 s20
Subsequent conveyance 
21(1)  A conveyance of or other act relating to real or personal 
property comprised in a devise or bequest or other disposition 
made or done after the making of a will does not prevent operation 
of the will with respect to any estate or interest in the property that 
the testator had power to dispose of by will at the time of the 
testator's death.
(2)  Except when a contrary intention appears by the will, when a 
testator at the time of the testator's death has a right or chose in 
action or equitable estate or interest that was created by
	(a)	a contract entered into after the making of the will and 
respecting real or personal property that was comprised in 
a devise or bequest,
	(b)	a conveyance made after the making of the will and 
relating to real or personal property that was comprised in 
a devise or bequest, or
	(c)	any other act done after the making of the will and 
relating to real or personal property that was comprised in 
a devise or bequest,
the devisee or donee of that real or personal property takes the right 
or chose in action or equitable estate or interest of the testator.
RSA 1980 cW-11 s21
Will to speak from death 
22   Except when a contrary intention appears by the will, a will 
speaks and takes effect as if it had been made immediately before 
the death of the testator with respect to
	(a)	the real and personal property, and
	(b)	the right or chose in action or equitable estate or interest 
or the proceeds under section 21(2).
RSA 1980 cW-11 s22
Lapsed gifts 
23   Except when a contrary intention appears by the will, real or 
personal property or an interest in real or personal property that is 
comprised or intended to be comprised in a devise or bequest that 
fails or becomes void
	(a)	by reason of the death of the devisee or donee in the 
lifetime of the testator, or
	(b)	by reason of the devise or bequest being contrary to law or 
otherwise incapable of taking effect,
is included in the residuary devise or bequest, if any, contained in 
the will.
RSA 1980 cW-11 s23
Devises of land 
24   Except when a contrary intention appears by the will, if a 
testator devises
	(a)	the testator's land,
	(b)	the testator's land in a place mentioned in the will, or in 
the occupation of a person mentioned in the will,
	(c)	land described in a general manner, or
	(d)	land described in a manner that would include a leasehold 
estate if the testator had no freehold estate that could be 
described in the manner used,
the devise includes the leasehold estates of the testator, or any of 
them to which the description extends, as well as freehold estates.
RSA 1980 cW-11 s24
General disposition 
25(1)  Except when a contrary intention appears by the will, a 
general devise of
	(a)	the real property of the testator,
	(b)	the real property of the testator in a place mentioned in the 
will or in the occupation of a person mentioned in the 
will, or
	(c)	real property described in a general manner,
includes any real property, or any real property to which the 
description extends, that the testator has power to appoint in any 
manner the testator thinks proper and operates as an execution of 
the power.
(2)  Except when a contrary intention appears by the will, a bequest 
of
	(a)	the personal property of the testator, or
	(b)	personal property described in a general manner,
includes any personal property, or any personal property to which 
the description extends, that the testator has power to appoint in 
any manner the testator thinks proper and operates as an execution 
of the power.
RSA 1980 cW-11 s25
Gift of real property 
26   Except when a contrary intention appears by the will, if real 
property is devised to a person without words of limitation, the 
devise passes the fee simple or the whole of any other estate that 
the testator had power to dispose of by will in the real property.
RSA 1980 cW-11 s26
Gift to "heir" 
27   Except when a contrary intention appears by the will, if 
property is devised or bequeathed to the "heir" of the testator or of 
another person, the word "heir" means the person to whom the 
beneficial interest in the property would go under the law of 
Alberta if the testator or the other person died intestate.
RSA 1980 cW-11 s27
Words importing failure of issue
28(1)  Subject to subsection (2), in a devise or bequest of real or 
personal property
	(a)	the words
	(i)	"die without issue",
	(ii)	"die without leaving issue", or
	(iii)	"have no issue",
		or
	(b)	other words importing either a want or failure of issue of a 
person in the person's lifetime or at the time of the 
person's death or an indefinite failure of the person's 
issue,
mean a want or failure of issue in the lifetime or at the time of the 
death of that person, and do not mean an indefinite failure of that 
person's issue unless a contrary intention appears by the will.
(2)  This section does not extend to cases where the import of the 
words defined in subsection (1) is
	(a)	"if no issue described in a preceding gift be born", or
	(b)	"if there be no issue who live to attain the age or 
otherwise answer the description required for obtaining a 
vested estate by a preceding gift to that issue".
RSA 1980 cW-11 s28
Devise to trustee 
29   Except when there is devised to a trustee, expressly or by 
implication, an estate for a definite term of years absolute or 
determinable or an estate of freehold, a devise of real property to a 
trustee or executor passes the fee simple or the whole of any other 
estate or interest that the testator had power to dispose of by will in 
the real property.
RSA 1980 cW-11 s29
Option to purchase 
30(1)  Except when a contrary intention appears by the will, if a 
will confers a power or imposes a duty to sell real property, the 
power is deemed to include the power to grant an option to 
purchase that property, if the period within which the option may 
be exercised is not longer than one year from the date on which the 
instrument granting the option is executed.
(2)  Notwithstanding section 2(1), this section applies to wills made 
before, on or after July 1, 1960.
RSA 1980 cW-11 s30
Devise to trustee 
31   If real property is devised to a trustee without express 
limitation of the estate to be taken by the trustee and the beneficial 
interest in the real property or in the surplus rents and profits
	(a)	is not given to a person for life, or
	(b)	is given to a person for life but the purpose of the trust 
may continue beyond the person's life,
the devise vests in the trustee the fee simple or the whole of any 
other legal estate that the testator had power to dispose of by will in 
the real property and not an estate determinable when the purposes 
of the trust are satisfied.
RSA 1980 cW-11 s31
Gift for charitable purpose 
32(1)  If a testator leaves property in trust or by outright gift for a 
charitable purpose that is linked conjunctively or disjunctively in 
the will with a non-charitable purpose and the non-charitable 
purpose is void for uncertainty or for any other cause, the 
charitable trust or gift is valid and operates solely for the benefit of 
the charitable purpose.
(2)  If a testator leaves property in trust or by outright gift for a 
charitable purpose that is linked conjunctively or disjunctively in 
the will with a non-charitable purpose, and the non-charitable 
purpose is not void, the trust or gift is valid for both purposes and if 
the will has not divided the property among the charitable and 
non-charitable purposes, the trustee or executor shall divide the 
property among the charitable and non-charitable purposes 
according to the trustee's or executor's discretion.
RSA 1980 cW-11 s32
Lapse of time in devise 
33   Except when a contrary intention appears by the will, if a 
person to whom real property is devised for what would have been, 
under the law of England, an estate tail or in quasi entail
	(a)	dies
	(i)	in the lifetime of the testator,
	(ii)	at the same time as the testator, or
	(iii)	in circumstances rendering it uncertain whether that 
person or the testator survived the other,
		and
	(b)	leaves issue who would inherit under the entail if that 
estate existed,
if any such issue are living at the time of the death of the testator, 
the devise does not lapse but takes effect as if the death of that 
person had happened immediately after the death of the testator.
RSA 1980 cW-11 s33
Lapse in gifts to children 
34(1)  Except when a contrary intention appears by the will, if a 
person dies in the lifetime of a testator either before or after the 
testator makes the will and that person
	(a)	is a child or other issue or a brother or sister of the testator 
to whom, either as an individual or as a member of a 
class, is devised or bequeathed an estate or interest in real 
or personal property not determinable at or before that 
person's death, and
	(b)	leaves issue, any of whom is living at the time of the death 
of the testator,
the devise or bequest does not lapse, but takes effect as if it had 
been made directly to the persons among whom and in the shares in 
which the estate of that person would have been divisible if that 
person had died intestate and without debts immediately after the 
death of the testator.
(2)  This section only applies with respect to a devise or bequest in 
a will made on or after July 1, 1960 and before June 1, 1968.
RSA 1980 cW-11 s34
Lapse in gifts to children 
35(1)  Except when a contrary intention appears by the will, if a 
person dies in the lifetime of a testator either before or after the 
testator makes the will and that person
	(a)	is a child or other issue or a brother or sister of the testator 
to whom, either as an individual or as a member of a 
class, is devised or bequeathed an estate or interest in real 
or personal property not determinable at or before that 
person's death, and
	(b)	leaves issue, any of whom is living at the time of the death 
of the testator,
the devise or bequest does not lapse, but takes effect as if it had 
been made directly to the persons among whom and in the shares in 
which the estate of that person would have been divisible if that 
person had died intestate and without debts immediately after the 
death of the testator, except that the surviving spouse or adult 
interdependent partner of that person is not entitled to receive a 
preferential share as provided under section 3 of the Intestate 
Succession Act.
(2)  This section only applies with respect to a devise or bequest in 
a will made on or after June 1, 1968.
RSA 2000 cW-12 s35;2002 cA-4.5 s80
Gift to illegitimate children 
36   In the construction of a will, except when a contrary intention 
appears by the will, an illegitimate child shall be treated as if that 
child were the legitimate child of that child's mother.
RSA 1980 cW-11 s36
Disposition of mortgaged property 
37(1)  If a person dies possessed of, or entitled to, or under a 
general power of appointment by the person's will disposes of, an 
interest in freehold or leasehold property that, at the time of the 
person's death, is subject to a mortgage, and the deceased has not, 
by will, deed or other document, signified a contrary or other 
intention, the interest is, as between the different persons claiming 
through the deceased, primarily liable for the payment or 
satisfaction of the mortgage debt, and every part of the interest, 
according to its value, bears a proportionate part of the mortgage 
debt on the whole interest.
(2)  A testator does not signify a contrary or other intention within 
subsection (1) by
	(a)	a general direction for the payment of debts or of all the 
debts of the testator out of the testator's personal estate or 
the testator's residuary real or personal estate, or the 
testator's residuary real estate, or
	(b)	a charge of debts on that estate,
unless the testator further signifies that intention by words 
expressly or by necessary implication referring to all or some part 
of the mortgage debt.
(3)  Nothing in this section affects a right of a person entitled to the 
mortgage debt to obtain payment or satisfaction either out of the 
other assets of the deceased or otherwise.
(4)  In this section, "mortgage" includes an equitable mortgage, and 
any charge whatsoever, whether equitable, statutory or of other 
nature, including a lien or claim on freehold or leasehold property 
for unpaid purchase money, and "mortgage debt" has a meaning 
similarly extended.
RSA 1980 cW-11 s37
Undisposed residue 
38(1)  When a person dies on or after July 1, 1960, having by will 
appointed a person executor, the executor is a trustee of any residue 
not expressly disposed of, for the person or persons, if any, who 
would be entitled to that residue in the event of intestacy in respect 
to it, unless the person so appointed executor was intended by the 
will to take the residue beneficially.
(2)  Nothing in this section affects or prejudices a right to which the 
executor, if this Part had not been passed, would have been 
entitled, in cases where there is not a person who would be so 
entitled.
RSA 1980 cW-11 s38
Part 2 
Conflict of Laws
Wills of land and movables 
39(1)  In this Part,
	(a)	an interest in land includes a leasehold estate as well as a 
freehold estate in land, and any other estate or interest in 
land whether the estate or interest is real property or is 
personal property;
	(b)	an interest in movables includes an interest in a tangible 
or intangible thing other than land, and includes personal 
property other than an estate or interest in land.
(2)  Subject to this Part, the manner and formalities of making a 
will, and its intrinsic validity and effect, so far as it relates to an 
interest in land, are governed by the law of the place where the land 
is situated.
(3)  Subject to this Part, the manner and formalities of making a 
will, and its intrinsic validity and effect, so far as it relates to an 
interest in movables, are governed by the law of the place where 
the testator was domiciled at the time of the testator's death.
RSA 1980 cW-11 s39
Law in force governs 
40   As regards the manner and formalities of making a will, so far 
as it relates to an interest in movables, a will made either within or 
outside Alberta is valid and admissible to probate if it is made in 
accordance with the law in force at the time of its making in the 
place where
	(a)	the will was made,
	(b)	the testator was domiciled when the will was made, or
	(c)	the testator had the testator's domicile of origin.
RSA 1980 cW-11 s40
Change of domicile 
41   A change of domicile of the testator occurring after a will is 
made does not render it invalid as regards the manner and 
formalities of its making or alter its construction.
RSA 1980 cW-11 s41
Law of domicile 
42   Nothing in this Part precludes resort to the law of the place 
where the testator was domiciled at the time of making a will in aid 
of its construction as regards an interest in land or an interest in 
movables.
RSA 1980 cW-11 s42
Law where land situated governs 
43   When the value of a thing that is movable consists mainly or 
entirely in its use in connection with a particular parcel of land by 
the owner or occupier of the land, succession to an interest in the 
thing, under a will or on an intestacy, is governed by the law of the 
place where the land is situated.
RSA 1980 cW-11 s43
Part 3 
International Wills
Definitions 
44   In this Part,
	(a)	"Convention" means the Convention Providing a Uniform 
Law on the Form of an International Will, a copy of 
which is set out in the Schedule to this Act;
	(b)	"international will" means a will that has been made in 
accordance with the rules regarding an international will 
set out in the Annex to the Convention;
	(c)	"registrar" means the person responsible for the operation 
and management of the registration system;
	(d)	"registration system" means a system for the registration, 
or the registration and safekeeping, of international wills 
established under section 49 or pursuant to an agreement 
entered into under section 50.
RSA 1980 cW-11 s44
Application of Convention 
45   On and after December 1, 1978, the Convention is in force in 
Alberta and applies to wills as the law of Alberta.
RSA 1980 cW-11 s45
Uniform law in effect 
46   On and after December 1, 1978, the uniform law on the form 
of an international will set out in the Annex to the Convention is 
law in Alberta.
RSA 1980 cW-11 s46
Validity under other laws 
47   Nothing in this Part detracts from or affects the validity of a 
will that is valid under the laws in force in Alberta other than this 
Part.
RSA 1980 cW-11 s47
Authorized persons 
48   All active members of The Law Society of Alberta are 
designated as persons authorized to act in connection with 
international wills.
RSA 1980 cW-11 s48
Registration system 
49   The Minister of Justice and Attorney General shall, in 
accordance with the regulations, establish a system of
	(a)	registration, or
	(b)	registration and safekeeping,
of international wills.
RSA 1980 cW-11 s49;1994 cG-8.5 s89
Agreements re registration system 
50   With the approval of the Lieutenant Governor in Council, the 
Minister of Justice and Attorney General for and on behalf of Her 
Majesty in right of Alberta may enter into an agreement with the 
government of another province or territory or a Minister or official 
of the government of another province or territory relating to the 
establishment of a system of registration or registration and 
safekeeping of international wills for Alberta and that other 
province or territory, and for the joint operation of that system, or 
relating to the exchange of information contained in a system 
established under section 49 and a similar system established for 
that other province or territory.
RSA 1980 cW-11 s50;1994 cG-8.5 s89
Joint registration system 
51   If a registration system is established pursuant to an agreement 
entered into under section 50, the Minister of Justice and Attorney 
General is relieved of the Minister's obligation under section 49.
RSA 1980 cW-11 s51;1994 cG-8.5 s89
Disclosure of information, etc.
52(1)  Information contained in the registration system concerning 
the international will of a testator must not be released from the 
system except in accordance with an agreement made under section 
50 or except to a person who satisfies the registrar that
	(a)	the person is the testator,
	(b)	the person is a person who is authorized by the testator to 
obtain that information, or
	(c)	the testator is dead and the person is a proper person to 
have access to the information.
(2)  When the registration system provides for the safekeeping of 
international wills, an international will of a testator deposited in 
the system must not be released except to a person who satisfies the 
registrar that
	(a)	the person is the testator,
	(b)	the person is a person who is authorized by the testator to 
obtain the will, or
	(c)	the testator is dead and the person is a proper person to 
have custody of the will for the purposes of the 
administration of the estate of the testator or the agent of 
such a person.
RSA 1980 cW-11 s52
Use of registration system 
53(1)  If a member of The Law Society of Alberta has acted during 
any month in respect of one or more international wills in the 
member's capacity as a person authorized to act in connection with 
international wills, the member shall, on or before the 10th day of 
the next month, file with the registrar, in a sealed envelope, a list 
on a form prescribed under the regulations, certified by the member 
or the member's agent, setting out the name, address and 
description of the testator and the date of execution of each 
international will in respect of which the member so acted, and the 
registrar shall enter the information in the registration system.
(2)  The failure of a member of The Law Society of Alberta to 
comply with subsection (1) in respect of an international will does 
not affect the validity of the international will.
RSA 1980 cW-11 s53
Regulations 
54   The Lieutenant Governor in Council may make regulations 
respecting the operation, maintenance and use of the registration 
system, and without limiting the generality of the foregoing, may 
make regulations
	(a)	prescribing forms for use in the system, and
	(b)	prescribing fees for searches of the registration system.
RSA 1980 cW-11 s54


Schedule   
Convention Providing a Uniform Law on the 
Form of an International Will
The States signatory to the present Convention,
   DESIRING to provide to a greater extent for the respecting of 
last wills by establishing an additional form of will hereinafter to 
be called an "international will" which, if employed, would 
dispense to some extent with the search for the applicable law;
   HAVE RESOLVED to conclude a Convention for this purpose 
and have agreed upon the following provisions:
Article I
1   Each Contracting Party undertakes that not later than 6 months 
after the date of entry into force of this Convention in respect of 
that Party it shall introduce into its law the rules regarding an 
international will set out in the Annex to this Convention.
2   Each Contracting Party may introduce the provisions of the 
Annex into its law either by reproducing the actual text, or by 
translating it into its official language or languages.
3   Each Contracting Party may introduce into its law such further 
provisions as are necessary to give the provisions of the Annex full 
effect in its territory.
4   Each Contracting Party shall submit to the Depositary 
Government the text of the rules introduced into its national law in 
order to implement the provisions of this Convention.
Article II
1   Each Contracting Party shall implement the provisions of the 
Annex in its law, within the period provided for in the preceding 
article, by designating the persons who, in its territory, shall be 
authorized to act in connection with international wills.  It may also 
designate as a person authorized to act with regard to its nationals 
its diplomatic or consular agents abroad insofar as the local law 
does not prohibit it.
2   The Party shall notify such designation, as well as any 
modifications thereof, to the Depositary Government.
Article III
   The capacity of the authorized person to act in connection with 
an international will, if conferred in accordance with the law of a 
Contracting Party, shall be recognized in the territory of the other 
Contracting Parties.
Article IV
  The effectiveness of the certificate provided for in Article 10 of 
the Annex shall be recognized in the territories of all Contracting 
Parties.
Article V
1   The conditions requisite to acting as a witness of an 
international will shall be governed by the law under which the 
authorized person was designated.  The same rule shall apply as 
regards an interpreter who is called upon to act.
2   Nonetheless no one shall be disqualified to act as a witness of 
an international will solely because he is an alien.
Article VI
1   The signature of the testator, of the authorized person, and of 
the witnesses to an international will, whether on the will or on the 
certificate, shall be exempt from any legalization or like formality.
2   Nonetheless, the competent authorities of any Contracting Party 
may, if necessary, satisfy themselves as to the authenticity of the 
signature of the authorized person.
Article VII
   The safekeeping of an international will shall be governed by the 
law under which the authorized person was designated.
Article VIII
   No reservation shall be admitted to this Convention or to its 
Annex.
Article IX
1   The present Convention shall be open for signature at 
Washington from October 26, 1973, until December 31, 1974.
2   The Convention shall be subject to ratification.
3   Instruments of ratification shall be deposited with the 
Government of the United States of America, which shall be the 
Depositary Government.
Article X
1   The Convention shall be open indefinitely for accession.
2   Instruments of accession shall be deposited with the Depositary 
Government.
Article XI
1   The present Convention shall enter into force 6 months after the 
date of deposit of the 5th instrument of ratification or accession 
with the Depositary Government.
2   In the case of each State which ratifies this Convention or 
accedes to it after the 5th instrument of ratification or accession has 
been deposited, this Convention shall enter into force 6 months 
after the deposit of its own instrument of ratification or accession.
Article XII
1   Any Contracting Party may denounce this Convention by 
written notification to the Depositary Government.
2   Such denunciation shall take effect 12 months from the date on 
which the Depositary Government has received the notification, but 
such denunciation shall not affect the validity of any will made 
during the period that the Convention was in effect for the 
denouncing State.
Article XIII
1   Any State may, when it deposits its instrument of ratification or 
accession or at any time thereafter, declare, by a notice addressed 
to the Depositary Government, that this Convention shall apply to 
all or part of the territories for the international relations of which it 
is responsible.
2   Such declaration shall have effect 6 months after the date on 
which the Depositary Government shall have received notice 
thereof or, if at the end of such period the Convention has not yet 
come into force, from the date of its entry into force.
3   Each Contracting Party which has made a declaration in 
accordance with paragraph 1 of this Article may, in accordance 
with Article XII, denounce this Convention in relation to all or part 
of the territories concerned.
Article XIV
1   If a State has 2 or more territorial units in which different 
systems of law apply in relation to matters respecting the form of 
wills, it may at the time of signature, ratification, or accession, 
declare that this Convention shall extend to all its territorial units or 
only to one or more of them, and may modify its declaration by 
submitting another declaration at any time.
2   These declarations shall be notified to the Depositary 
Government and shall state expressly the territorial units to which 
the Convention applies.
Article XV
   If a Contracting Party has 2 or more territorial units in which 
different systems of law apply in relation to matters respecting the 
form of wills, any reference to the internal law of the place where 
the will is made or to the law under which the authorized person 
has been appointed to act in connection with international wills 
shall be construed in accordance with the constitutional system of 
the Party concerned.
Article XVI
1   The original of the present Convention, in the English, French, 
Russian and Spanish languages, each version being equally 
authentic, shall be deposited with the Government of the United 
States of America, which shall transmit certified copies thereof to 
each of the signatory and acceding States and to the International 
Institute for the Unification of Private Law.
2   The Depositary Government shall give notice to the signatory 
and acceding States, and to the International Institute for the 
Unification of Private Law, of:
	(a)	any signature;
	(b)	the deposit of any instrument of ratification or accession;
	(c)	any date on which this Convention enters into force in 
accordance with Article XI;
	(d)	any communication received in accordance with Article I, 
paragraph 4;
	(e)	any notice received in accordance with Article II, 
paragraph 2;
	(f)	any declaration received in accordance with Article XIII, 
paragraph 2, and the date on which such declaration takes 
effect;
	(g)	any denunciation received in accordance with Article XII, 
paragraph 1, or Article XIII, paragraph 3, and the date on 
which the denunciation takes effect;
	(h)	any declaration received in accordance with Article XIV, 
paragraph 2, and the date on which the declaration takes 
effect.
Annex
Uniform Law on the Form of an International Will
Article 1
1   A will shall be valid as regards form, irrespective particularly of 
the place where it is made, of the location of the assets and of the 
nationality, domicile or residence of the testator, if it is made in the 
form of an international will complying with the provisions set out 
in Articles 2 to 5 hereinafter.
2   The invalidity of the will as an international will shall not affect 
its formal validity as a will of another kind.
Article 2
   This law shall not apply to the form of testamentary dispositions 
made by 2 or more persons in one instrument.
Article 3
1   The will shall be made in writing.
2   It need not be written by the testator himself.
3   It may be written in any language, by hand or by any other 
means.
Article 4
1   The testator shall declare in the presence of 2 witnesses and of a 
person authorized to act in connection with international wills that 
the document is his will and that he knows the contents thereof.
2   The testator need not inform the witnesses, or the authorized 
person, of the contents of the will.
Article 5
1   In the presence of the witnesses and of the authorized person, 
the testator shall sign the will or, if he has previously signed it, 
shall acknowledge his signature.
2   When the testator is unable to sign, he shall indicate the reason 
therefor to the authorized person who shall make note of this on the 
will. Moreover, the testator may be authorized by the law under 
which the authorized person was designated to direct another 
person to sign on his behalf.
3   The witnesses and the authorized person shall there and then 
attest the will by signing in the presence of the testator.
Article 6
1   The signatures shall be placed at the end of the will.
2   If the will consists of several sheets, each sheet shall be signed 
by the testator or, if he is unable to sign, by the person signing on 
his behalf or, if there is no such person, by the authorized person.  
In addition, each sheet shall be numbered.
Article 7
1   The date of the will shall be the date of its signature by the 
authorized person.
2   This date shall be noted at the end of the will by the 
authorized person.
Article 8
   In the absence of any mandatory rule pertaining to the 
safekeeping of the will, the authorized person shall ask the testator 
whether he wishes to make a declaration concerning the 
safekeeping of his will.  If so and at the express request of the 
testator the place where he intends to have his will kept shall be 
mentioned in the certificate provided for in Article 9.
Article 9
   The authorized person shall attach to the will a certificate in the 
form prescribed in Article 10 establishing that the obligations of 
this law have been complied with.
Article 10
   The certificate drawn up by the authorized person shall be in the 
following form or in a substantially similar form:
Certificate
(Convention of October 26, 1973)
1.	I,       (name, address and capacity)		
		 
a person authorized to act in connection with international wills
2.	certify that on       (date)		
			 
at           (place),		
				
3.	   (name, address, date and place of birth of testator)		 
in my presence and that of the witnesses
4.	(a)	  (name, address, date and place of birth)		
	(b)	  (name, address, date and place of birth)		
has declared that the attached document is his will and that he 
knows the contents thereof.
5.	I furthermore certify that:
6.	(a)	in my presence and in that of the witnesses
	(1)  the testator has signed the will or has acknowledged 
his signature previously affixed;
	*(2)  following a declaration of the testator stating that he 
was unable to sign his will for the following reason
?I have mentioned this declaration on the will
*?the signature has been affixed by
         (name, address)		
				
7.	(b)	the witnesses and I have signed the will;
8.	*(c)	each page of the will has been signed by 
				
		 and numbered;
9.	(d)	I have satisfied myself as to the identity of the 
testator and of the witnesses as designated above;
10.	(e)	the witnesses met the conditions requisite to act as 
such according to the law under which I am acting;
11.	*(f)	the testator has requested me to include the following  
statement concerning the safekeeping of his will:
				
				
				
				
12.	PLACE
13.	DATE
14.	SIGNATURE and, if necessary, SEAL
		*To be completed if appropriate.
Article 11
   The authorized person shall keep a copy of the certificate and 
deliver another to the testator.
Article 12
   In the absence of evidence to the contrary, the certificate of the 
authorized person shall be conclusive of the formal validity of the 
instrument as a will under this Law.
Article 13
   The absence or irregularity of a certificate shall not affect the 
formal validity of a will under this Law.
Article 14
   The international will shall be subject to the ordinary rules of 
revocation of wills.
Article 15
In interpreting and applying the provisions of this Law, regard shall 
be had to its international origin and to the need for uniformity in 
its interpretation.
RSA 1980 cW-11 Sched.