October 20 to 26 marks Make a Will Week in BC this year. The goal of this week is to make people aware of the benefits of having a will and encourage everyone in BC to make or update their will. This year’s Make a Will Week is later in October than usual as it corresponds with the BC Notaries Association’s visit to Victoria and highlights notaries' abilities to prepare wills and assist with estate planning. If you want to find a notary in your community, you can use the Find a Notary tool available from the BC Notaries Association.
If you need a go-to information resource to get your patrons started with making their will, check out the Clicklaw Common Question How do I make a will. It walks you through what a will needs to be valid, the types of things to include in a will, and links to helpful resources that your patrons can use to write their own will.
This Common Question is also included in LawMatters’ Wills and Personal Planning Resources guide, one of our reference tools specifically created to provide in-the-moment support for public library workers receiving legal information requests. This guide features resources, both online and in print, that can help your patrons make their own will. The guide also includes referral options for those patrons who may need some extra support. Feel free to bookmark so you can quickly refer to the guide during your reference work!
This article is a LawMatters Blog post written for current awareness at the time of publishing. Please check the publication date as some information may have changed since then.