When A Draft Will Is Not Enough: Smith v. Bechtel

In Smith v. Bechtel, 2026 ONSC 975, the Ontario Superior Court of Justice considered whether an unsigned draft will prepared by a lawyer could be treated as a valid will under s. 21.1 of the Succession Law Reform Act.

The case highlights an issue that sometimes arises when someone begins the process of making a will but dies before it is formally signed. The court was asked to decide whether the draft document should be treated as the deceased’s will, or whether the estate should instead be distributed according to Ontario’s intestacy rules.

Background

Timothy Bechtel died suddenly on September 30, 2024. He had never married, had no common law spouse, and had no children. He was survived by several siblings and the children of a predeceased brother. Importantly, Mr. Bechtel did not have an ongoing relationship with his siblings.

About two weeks before his death, Mr. Bechtel met with a lawyer to prepare a will and powers of attorney. The lawyer took handwritten notes during the meeting and later prepared draft documents reflecting those instructions. A letter enclosing the drafts was left for Mr. Bechtel to pick up, along with a request that he review the documents and advise the lawyer of any changes before a scheduled appointment to sign them.

Mr. Bechtel died twelve days later, before the documents could be reviewed or executed.

What Did Mr. Bechtel’s Draft Will Say?

The draft will set out a specific plan for how Mr. Bechtel’s estate should be distributed. It appointed the applicant, Tammy Lyn Smith, as estate trustee. Ms. Smith had previously worked as Mr. Bechtel’s office manager and remained a close friend after her employment ended.

The draft will also included several gifts to individuals and a charity, including:

• $75,000 to each of Mr. Bechtel’s three nephews
• $100,000 to a friend
• $50,000 to another friend
• $75,000 to the Arnprior Humane Society
• A riding lawn mower to a neighbour

After those gifts were paid, the remaining estate was to go to Ms. Smith. Notably, Mr. Bechtel’s siblings were not included as beneficiaries under the draft will.

What Would Happen to Mr. Bechtel’s Estate Without a Valid Will?

If a person dies without a valid will, their estate is distributed according to Ontario’s intestacy rules, which are set out in the Succession Law Reform Act. These rules determine who inherits based on a fixed order of family relationships.

Because Mr. Bechtel had no spouse and no children, his estate would be distributed to his next closest relatives, which in this case meant his surviving siblings and the children of his predeceased brother. In other words, if the draft will was not validated, the estate would pass to family members who were not beneficiaries under the draft will, rather than to the friends and charity named in that document.

This created the central legal question in the case: Should the court treat the draft will as Mr. Bechtel’s valid will, or should the estate be distributed according to the intestacy rules?

The Legal Context

Under the Succession Law Reform Act, a will is normally only valid if it meets certain formal requirements. Among other things, it must be signed by the testator in the presence of two witnesses, who must also sign the will.

The draft will in this case had not been signed or witnessed, so it did not meet those requirements.

However, s. 21.1 of the SLRA, which came into force in 2022, allows the court to validate a document that does not meet the formal requirements if the court is satisfied that the document sets out the testamentary intentions of the deceased. In other words, the court can treat a document as a valid will if it is satisfied that it reflects the deceased person’s final intentions for how their estate should be distributed.

Ms. Smith’s Evidence

The applicant, Ms. Smith, relied on several pieces of evidence to support the application.

1. The lawyer who prepared the draft will testified that Mr. Bechtel attended their meeting alone, appeared to have capacity, and seemed clear about how he wanted to distribute his estate.
2. The applicant also found a handwritten document in Mr. Bechtel’s home listing his assets and setting out general instructions about certain gifts, with the remainder of the estate going to the applicant.
3. In addition, the applicant and a charity had been named as beneficiaries of certain insurance and investment assets.

While this evidence suggested that Mr. Bechtel intended certain people to benefit from his estate rather than his siblings, the court noted that expressions of intention alone are not enough to establish a valid will.

The Court’s Decision

The court ultimately concluded that the draft will could not be validated.

One of the key issues was that there was no evidence that Mr. Bechtel had reviewed the draft will prepared by his lawyer. The lawyer’s letter specifically asked Mr. Bechtel to review the document and advise of any changes or corrections, indicating that the document was still part of an ongoing drafting process.

The court also noted that the deadline for providing feedback on the draft had not yet passed when Mr. Bechtel died.

In addition, the handwritten list found in Mr. Bechtel’s home contained differences from the draft will, including different amounts and beneficiaries.

The court noted that people often reconsider their decisions while a will is being drafted. Because there was no evidence that Mr. Bechtel had reviewed or approved the draft, it was not possible to conclude that the document represented his final testamentary intentions.

For that reason, the court declined to validate the draft will under s. 21.1 of the SLRA. As a result, Mr. Bechtel’s estate would be distributed according to the intestacy rules.

Takeaways

Smith v. Bechtel illustrates the limits of the court’s power to validate documents that do not meet the formal requirements for a will.

Even though the evidence suggested that Mr. Bechtel had begun the process of creating a will and had discussed his wishes with a lawyer, the court was not satisfied that the draft document represented his final decision about how his estate should be distributed.

The case serves as a reminder that the process of preparing a will is not complete until the document is reviewed, finalized, and properly executed.

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