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Locating wills and documents

If you are looking for a will, legal file or other document that was prepared by a lawyer or paralegal in Ontario, there are a number of places you might search.

If you know the name of the lawyer or paralegal who helped prepare the document in Ontario, contact them directly and ask if they have kept a copy.

  • Search the Law Society's Lawyer and Paralegal Directory for contact information.
  • If the lawyer or paralegal worked in a law firm and is no longer practising, try contacting the law firm to ask if they keep closed files and wills.
  • If your lawyer practised outside of Toronto, contact the local law association in the area. Law associations often keep notes about the location of wills and merger of local law practices.
    • A list of Ontario law associations can be found on the Federation of Ontario Law Association website. (Please note that, due to the size of its membership, the Toronto Lawyers Association cannot assist with these types of inquiries.)
  • Finding a will or power of attorney

    If you are looking for wills or power of attorney documents:

    • The first place you should look is close to home. Often wills have been found in safety deposit boxes or tucked away safely in a desk or drawer at home.
    • Contact the Estates Department in the Civil Office of the Superior Court of Justice in the location where the testator (person the will belongs to) lived, to see if the document was deposited with the court. Addresses and court information for court houses in Ontario can be found on the Ministry of the Attorney General's website.
    • If you are an Ontario lawyer, or if you have retained a lawyer in Ontario, they may conduct a search on Willcheck.ca, an Ontario wills registry database maintained by the County of Carleton Law Association.
    • You can make a search request with NoticeConnect, which has created the Canada Wills Registry. Their system searches the wills that have been registered in their database. NoticeConnect can also assist in locating wills that have not been registered in their database. This service sends a Knowledge of a Will notice to NoticeConnect's mailing list, law libraries and other partners, asking the legal community if anyone has or knows about a particular will.
    • You may wish to contact a lawyer who offers services in estate law. Estate lawyers may be able to help in the search for an original will. They can also advise you about a missing or lost will and how to proceed without an original will.
  • Finding real estate documents

    If you are looking for real estate documents (for example, a mortgage or deed):

    • Contact your local land registry office. The land registry office keeps official records of land and property in Ontario, including title, deed and mortgage documents.
    • For information on how to search for records and which land registry office to contact, visit the Service Ontario overview of land registry.
    • If you have an issue with title to your property and hold a policy of title insurance, you may wish to contact your title insurer to ask if they can assist you.
  • Finding court documents

    If you are looking for court documents, contact the courthouse.

    Many documents are filed in the context of litigation or are available at the courthouse in the context of criminal, provincial offences and immigration matters.

    You can find contact information for the appropriate court office on the first or last page of all court-issued documents.

    Otherwise, you can search for court office locations and contact information on the Ministry of the Attorney General's website.

  • Finding corporate minute books or corporate records
    • For federally incorporated corporations, contact Corporations Canada, who can provide copies of registered documents for a fee.
    • For provincially incorporated corporations, you may request records through Service Ontario.
  • Are lawyers and paralegals required to keep their files indefinitely?

    Lawyers and paralegals do not have to keep their files forever. The length of time lawyers and paralegals maintain client files varies depending on the nature of the records and their own business practices. Clients looking for old files may find they have been disposed of.

  • Are lawyers required to keep duplicate copies of wills and Powers of Attorney or other original documents?

    Some lawyers keep original wills and powers of attorney as a service for their clients, but they do not have to. Sometimes, lawyers and paralegals return original client documents to clients when they close a client file. For this reason, clients are encouraged to search all safe-keeping locations in their homes and office before starting an external search for original documents.

  • Does the Law Society keep files and documents from lawyers and paralegals when they stop practising?

    Generally, no. Only in very limited circumstances does the Law Society keep such files and documents.

  • Does the Law Society have information about the location of files from all old law practices?

    No. Lawyers and paralegals are responsible for providing the Law Society with up-to-date information about the location of their practice.

  • Does the Law Society maintain a list of all clients who retain lawyers and paralegals in Ontario?

    No, but the Law Society may have general information about the location of a lawyer or paralegal's files as noted above. For example, we may have a record that a certain lawyer sent all of his or her original wills to another lawyer, but we would not know the names of the testators of the wills.

  • How can the Law Society help me in my quest to find a file or document?

    We can search for the name of your lawyer or paralegal in our records to determine if we have any information. For example, we may be able to tell you our records show that, prior to retiring, your lawyer/paralegal transferred his or her files to another lawyer/paralegal in town.

    We will give you the contact information for the new lawyer/paralegal so you can contact them to ask if they have your file. As our records are general, we will not be able to confirm that the new lawyer/paralegal does, in fact, have your specific file.

  • I have learned that my lawyer or paralegal is no longer practising and that the Law Society has a Trusteeship Order. I believe the lawyer/paralegal was holding files or money that belong to me. What do I do?

    Fill out our online inquiry form. We will conduct a search to determine if the Law Society has your file or documents, or otherwise has information that may help you.

  • Circumstances where the Law Society will not be able to assist:

    The Law Society will not be able to help where:

    • we don’t have a record relating to the lawyer or paralegal you are asking about
    • you don't have sufficient information to identify the lawyer or paralegal you are asking about
    • you are asking about a lawyer or paralegal who was not licensed in Ontario
    • you are not entitled to the information
    • the file you are looking for is old
    • you are looking for a document that is available at the Land Registry Office
    • you are looking for a document that is available at a court office
    • you are looking for a document that is available from another public registry or authority.
  • Is the lawyer/paralegal who has my file/document allowed to request a fee for releasing it to me?

    Lawyers and paralegals sometimes do ask for a fee for the release of a file or document, as they do incur storage and other costs in keeping files and other materials. The Law Society cannot intervene in the request for a fee payment. If you have concerns about the conduct of the lawyer or paralegal, you may wish to file a complaint. Learn more about the Law Society's complaint process.

  • I am not looking for a file or document but would like to ask a general question. Can I do so by way of the online inquiry form?

    The Law Society cannot provide legal advice to the public. The online inquiry form is in place to assist clients who retained an Ontario lawyer or paralegal and are looking for their file or documents. If you require legal assistance, you may wish to contact the Law Society Referral Service.

  • How can the Law Society help?

    In some cases, the Law Society may have information about the location of wills, legal files and documents from the former practices of lawyers or paralegals. When lawyers and paralegals stop working, they are responsible for giving the Law Society information about the location of their client files.

    If they have done this, the Law Society may be able to direct you to the successor paralegal or lawyer. It is important to note that not all lawyers and paralegals provide the Law Society with this information and/or the information may be incomplete or out of date.  

    If you have tried the suggestions above and are still unable to locate a will, file or document, please complete the online inquiry form. The information requested will help us determine if the Law Society has information about the location of these documents. 

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