MULTIPLE WILLS OVERVIEW
Some assets, such as private company shares, partnership interests, and loans, may not require probate (a “Certificate of Estate Trustee With a Will”). However, if all of your assets are governed by one Will, then probate taxes will be payable on the value of all of your assets if a probate application is necessary to deal with even one asset.
Preparing multiple Wills is one way to minimize probate taxes (in Ontario, these are called “Estates Administration Taxes”). Multiple Wills involve having one Will that deals with all of the assets that require or might require probate to administer (your “Primary Will”) and having a second Will that specifically deals only with those assets (such as private company shares) for which a grant of probate is not required (your “Secondary Will”).
The goal is that only your Primary Will would be submitted for probate, and probate taxes would then be payable on the assets flowing through your Primary Will alone. A further benefit is that the content of your Secondary Will remains private, as it need not be submitted to the Court.
Multiple Wills can be beneficial where the value of the private company shares is such that saving 1.5% is desirable.