Wills for Alberta: How to Make Your Own Will

P.F. McKenna was librarian at the Police Academy, Brampton, Ontario.

This book is the fourth edition of a work originally published in 1974 under the title Wills and Probate Procedure, Alberta. The author, who is currently practising law in Alberta, has provided the interested layperson with some of the basic tools for constructing that significant legal document known as a will. The work, part of the Self-Counsel Series, may be used in conjunction with a will and estate planning kit (also available from the publisher). However, Ms. Gottselig is very careful to point out that circumstances profoundly alter cases and that the guidance she provides should by no means be viewed as a substitute for sound legal advice.

This brief guide to wills for Albertans touches on the major aspects of the preparation of wills, executors and the basics of probate procedure, and other relevant topics including the disposition of the estates of those who die without leaving a will. Basically this work is little more than a reprint of the second and third editions, including the generous use of standard legal forms to illustrate specific aspects of will drafting. More careful proofreading would have revealed the error in Example 3 of Chapter 4 (p. 78). A brief glossary of some basic terms concludes this easily read primer on wills.