How to Write a Valid Will in Newfoundland and Labrador

A 19-year-old marine technology student in St. John's writes a one-page will the weekend before shipping out for a four-month offshore placement. The will leaves her modest savings to her younger brother, names her mother as executor, and is signed in the family kitchen with her grandmother and a family friend as witnesses. All three sign while sitting at the same table. Both witnesses are mentally competent adults and neither is named in the will. The will is valid under the Newfoundland and Labrador Wills Act — it would have been valid even if she were two years younger.^[1]

Newfoundland uses one of the lowest will-making ages in Canada (17), shares the standard two-witnesses-present pattern with most other provinces, and recognizes holograph wills entirely in the testator's handwriting. The province's wills statute is the Wills Act, RSNL 1990, c W-10, and the procedural rules around probate sit alongside it in the Judicature Act and the Supreme Court rules.

This guide walks through what the Newfoundland statute requires and the choices it leaves to the testator.

What the Newfoundland Wills Act requires #

A formal Newfoundland will is valid when:^[1]

• The testator is at least 17. Newfoundland's threshold is among the lowest in Canada (most provinces use 18 or 19). There is no requirement of marriage or military service to make a valid will at 17.
• The will is in writing. Typed or handwritten; oral wills are not valid.
• The testator signs at the foot or end of the will, or acknowledges a previously made signature in front of the witnesses.
• Two witnesses are present at the same time when the testator signs (or acknowledges). Both witnesses must then sign in the testator's presence.

The "in the presence of" requirement has been the subject of judicial commentary in Newfoundland.^[5] The traditional reading requires physical, line-of-sight presence — the witnesses must be in the same room and able to see the testator sign. Sequential witnessing or witnessing through a closed door does not satisfy the statute. Emergency-order virtual witnessing was permitted during the COVID-19 pandemic but those provisions have been largely wound back.

The witness rule that catches people #

Section 7 of the Wills Act takes a narrower approach than most Canadian provinces. A gift to a witness (or to the witness's spouse) is not automatically void — it fails only if the will cannot be sufficiently proved without that witness's own evidence of execution.^[1] In practice that is a thin exception to rely on: if a probate registry or court ever needs that witness's testimony to confirm the will was properly signed, the gift is void after all. A typical pitfall — a testator who has the adult son named as residue beneficiary, then asks the son and the daughter-in-law to witness. If their evidence turns out to be needed, both gifts fail. Use neutral witnesses and the question never comes up.

Witnesses must be mentally competent. There is no specific minimum age for witnesses in the Newfoundland statute, but practical custom is to use adult witnesses (18+) to avoid any later argument about competence.

Holograph wills #

The Newfoundland Wills Act recognizes holograph wills — wills entirely in the testator's own handwriting and signed by them.^[1] A holograph will does not require witnesses. The validity test is:

• Entirely in the testator's handwriting (typed pages do not qualify; pre-printed will-kit forms with fill-in blanks generally do not qualify either).
• Signed by the testator.
• Reflects testamentary intent — the document must be intended as a will, not as a draft or note.

Some commentary suggests the Newfoundland statute reads more strictly than holograph regimes in other provinces. The conservative practical advice — use a formal witnessed will for ordinary planning. Holograph wills are mostly useful in genuine emergencies where formal signing is impossible.

Common-law partners and Newfoundland intestacy #

Newfoundland's intestate succession regime, governed by the Intestate Succession Act, RSNL 1990, c I-21, provides for a married spouse and blood relatives — it does not give a common-law (cohabiting) partner an automatic share on intestacy.^[3] A surviving common-law partner who was being supported by the deceased may instead apply to the court for support under the Family Relief Act (below), but that is a discretionary dependant's claim, not a guaranteed intestate share.

A will is the only fully reliable way to leave property to a common-law partner in Newfoundland — the statutory threshold is fact-driven and contestable, and the consequences of being on the wrong side of the line are significant.

The Family Relief Act, RSNL 1990, c F-3, allows a dependant (including a common-law partner who was financially supported) to apply for support from the estate if the will or intestacy does not provide adequately.^[4]

Marriage, divorce, and the Newfoundland will #

Marriage. Under the Wills Act, marriage generally revokes a prior will unless the will was made in contemplation of that specific marriage and states so on its face. Newfoundland has not abolished this rule — unlike Ontario, which removed it in 2022. Treat any prior will as gone after marriage; write a new one or confirm with a codicil that addresses the marriage.

Divorce. Newfoundland is one of the provinces where divorce has no automatic effect on a will at all — there is no Wills Act provision that revokes a gift to a former spouse or removes them as executor once a divorce is final. The will keeps operating exactly as written, so an un-updated will can still leave property to, or name as executor, someone who is now an ex-spouse. Treat a finalized divorce as a mandatory trigger to review and, almost always, redo the will.

Separation. Separation alone (without divorce) does not change anything about a Newfoundland will either. Nothing changes until the will itself is amended.

Choosing an executor in Newfoundland #

The executor — the person who administers the estate — is chosen in the will. Newfoundland probate practice tracks the general Canadian common-law pattern: the executor obtains a grant of probate from the Supreme Court of Newfoundland and Labrador (Trial Division) where one is required, then gathers assets, pays debts, files terminal and estate tax returns, and distributes the residue.

Practical executor choices:

• A family member or friend with administrative competence. The most common pattern.
• A trust company for complex or high-value estates. Available; more expensive (typically a percentage of estate value).
• Co-executors when no single person has the right combination of skills.

Always name an alternate. If your named executor cannot act and you've left no alternate, the court appoints an administrator under the rules of intestate succession.

Probate fees and timeline #

Newfoundland's probate fee structure is set out in regulation. The current pattern is a tiered scale modest by Canadian standards — significantly lower than Ontario or Nova Scotia's percentage-based regimes. For most Newfoundland estates, probate fees are in the hundreds of dollars rather than thousands. The probate fee calculator carries the current Newfoundland schedule.

Probate timelines in Newfoundland generally run 8-20 weeks from filing to grant for a straightforward estate, longer where there are challenges, gaps in the will, or complications around assets located outside the province.

Powers of attorney — the companion documents #

A complete Newfoundland estate plan typically includes:

• Enduring power of attorney for property. Governs financial decisions during incapacity. Drafted under the Enduring Powers of Attorney Act.
• Advance health care directive. Governs healthcare decisions during incapacity. Drafted under the Advance Health Care Directives Act.

These are not part of the will but are usually drafted alongside it. They address what happens during incapacity (rather than at death) and are increasingly important as Canadian life expectancy grows.

A simple Newfoundland will checklist #

For a competent adult Newfoundland resident with a moderate estate:

1. Confirm you are 17 or older.
2. Identify the executor and alternate executor.
3. Decide the residue beneficiary and any specific bequests.
4. If you have minor children, identify guardians.
5. Print the will (or write entirely by hand as a holograph).
6. Find two qualified witnesses — adults, mentally competent, not beneficiaries, not spouses of beneficiaries.
7. Sign in their joint presence; have them sign in your presence.
8. Tell the executor where the original is stored.
9. Update beneficiary designations on registered accounts and life insurance to align.
10. Schedule a review every 3-5 years or after any major life event.

What we focus on at It's Simple Will #

It's Simple Will produces wills that meet Newfoundland and Labrador's Wills Act formal-validity requirements — adult testator, two witnesses present, signed at the foot — and walks the user through the choices the statute leaves to them (executor, residue, guardians, specific gifts). The output is province-tagged so the witnessing instructions and ancillary documents reflect Newfoundland practice rather than a generic template.

Our pillar on how to write a will in Canada covers the general drafting decisions; witnessing a will drills into the witness rules that catch first-time writers. The dying without a will in Canada article walks through what happens under each province's intestacy formula, including Newfoundland.

Start at app.itssimplewill.ca. The questionnaire takes 20-40 minutes for a straightforward Newfoundland estate.