What Not to Include in a Canadian Will

A retired teacher in Halifax dies, leaving a carefully prepared will that includes the location and combination of the home safe ("the wall safe behind the painting in the den, combination 17-42-08"), the username and password for her online banking, the safe-deposit-box number and key location at her credit union, and the PIN for her debit card. Six weeks later, after probate is granted, a researcher pulls the will from the Nova Scotia probate registry as part of routine work, sees the combination, and a copy circulates briefly in a genealogy forum before being taken down. The safe combination is no longer secret. The combination is changed. The bank passwords are rotated. The damage is minor in this case — but the principle is real, and every line of credential-grade information in a probated will is one search request away from a stranger.

The general rule is straightforward: a will handles who, a separate document handles how. Mixing the two creates risk that simple discipline prevents.

The five categories to leave out #

Five categories of content do not belong in a Canadian will, in roughly decreasing order of risk:

Credentials and access information. Passwords for online accounts, PINs for debit and credit cards, combinations for safes, recovery phrases for crypto wallets, the location of safe deposit box keys. These belong in a private document the executor can access without it being part of the public record.

Account numbers in full. "Account #5567-3429-87132 at TD Canada Trust" is more than the executor needs from the will and creates exposure if the document leaks. The will can identify the institution and the type of account ("my chequing account at TD Canada Trust") without listing the full number.

Detailed asset inventories. A complete list of every collectible, every investment position, every piece of jewellery — including current values — is operationally useful for the executor but turns the will into a treasure map for anyone who searches the registry. A general residue clause plus a private inventory accomplishes the same goal more safely.

Personal feelings, grievances, and explanations. "I am leaving nothing to my son David because he has been ungrateful since his second marriage" is the kind of clause that fuels will-challenges. Canadian courts will not strike a gift simply because the explanation is harsh, but a public document containing such a statement invites litigation and damages family relationships for years. If an explanation is needed, a separate sealed letter to the family — referenced but not quoted in the will — is the safer route.

Conditions the courts will not enforce. Conditions tied to religion, marriage to or divorce from a specific person, or behavioural rules contrary to public policy are generally struck by Canadian courts.^[4] Including them in the will is at best ineffective and at worst opens the door to a challenge of related clauses.

Why the public-record default matters #

Once a Canadian will is admitted to probate, it becomes part of the court file in the province where the grant is issued. The standard rule, in every common-law province, is that court files are public records.^[2] Anyone can attend the courthouse and request a copy. Some provinces have moved probate records partially online, where they are searchable by name.

This is not a privacy bug; it is a deliberate feature of estate administration. The transparency lets potential creditors verify they have notice. It lets potential beneficiaries confirm the document. It lets challenges be brought within the limitation period.

The public-record default does not change just because the testator does not want it to. Anything sensitive that gets included is, from the date of probate forward, accessible to anyone willing to pay a search fee.

The Life Discovery Kit pattern #

The right place for operational details is a separately maintained private document that the executor can access after death but that is not part of the will. Various names are used for this document: a "letter of instructions", a "personal property memorandum", a "Life Discovery Kit", or sometimes simply a "executor's guide".

A complete executor's guide typically contains:

A list of bank accounts, credit cards, and investment accounts by institution and approximate type, with the location of statements or login credentials. A list of insurance policies with policy numbers and carrier contacts. A list of digital assets, including crypto wallet types and where the recovery material is stored. A list of subscription services, social media accounts, and email accounts to be closed or memorialized. The location of physical documents: passport, birth certificate, marriage certificate, deeds, vehicle registrations. The location of safe deposit boxes, the box number, and the key. Contact information for the lawyer, accountant, financial advisor, doctor, and other professional advisors. Funeral and burial preferences in detail. Personal letters to family members.

This document is the operational counterpart to the legal will. It is stored privately — at home in a fireproof safe, with the lawyer, or with a trusted family member — and never enters the public record.

What to keep general in the will #

The corresponding discipline on the will itself is to keep descriptions general enough to function legally without exposing operational detail:

"All of my interest in any chequing or savings account at TD Canada Trust" instead of listing the account numbers.

"My RRSP and TFSA accounts at Wealthsimple" instead of the account numbers.

"All my digital assets, including cryptocurrency and tokens held in self-custody wallets or on exchanges" instead of listing wallet addresses.

"My jewellery, with allocation as set out in a personal property memorandum incorporated by reference" — a memorandum that lives outside the will and can be updated without re-executing the will, though the legal effectiveness of incorporation by reference varies by province.

The will gives the executor authority to access and administer; the operational document tells them how.

The contested categories — funeral wishes, organ donation, pets #

Three categories sit on the boundary between will and operational document:

Funeral wishes. The will is generally read after the funeral has happened, which makes detailed funeral instructions in the will operationally useless. A brief general indication is fine ("I wish to be cremated"); detailed instructions belong in the funeral pre-planner or executor's guide. See our funeral pre-planning guide for the practical pattern.

Organ and tissue donation. Donation is governed by separate provincial registries — registering with the registry is what makes the donation effective. The will can express the wish, but the formal authorization should be through the provincial registry (e.g., BeADonor.ca in Ontario, BC Transplant in BC). A clause in the will that contradicts the registry creates confusion at the worst possible moment.

Care of pets. A pet cannot legally inherit money in Canada (pets are property, not beneficiaries). A common workaround is to leave a sum to a named human caretaker on the condition (or expressed wish) that the caretaker use the funds for the pet's care. The arrangement and the caretaker can be in the will; detailed care instructions (feeding schedule, vet contact, behavioural quirks) belong in the executor's guide.

A note on personal letters #

A long-standing tradition in Canadian estate practice is the "letter to the family" — a personal document, sometimes sealed, sometimes not, that accompanies the will but is not part of it. The letter can do what the will should not: explain decisions, express affection, share final thoughts, sometimes ask forgiveness.

The letter has no legal effect. It cannot dispose of property, appoint an executor, or vary the gifts in the will. It is purely personal — and for many testators that is exactly the right tool for the emotional content that has no business in the legal document.

What we focus on at It's Simple Will #

The architecture at It's Simple Will splits the legal from the operational by design. The Will Creator generates the legally effective document; the Life Discovery Kit generates the private executor's guide. The two are coordinated, but only the Will Creator's output is intended to ever enter a probate registry.

For the foundational rules, see our pillar on how to write a will in Canada. For related drafting issues, see conditional bequests in Canada, where to store your will, and telling your executor about your will.