Several Canadian insurance and financial-advisory firms offer a 'free will' as part of their pitch. Primerica is the best-known. The will is real, but it isn't free in any meaningful sense — and the conflict of interest baked into the model produces predictable failure modes that surface only when you die. Here's what's actually happening, what a proper will requires, and what to do instead.
A financial advisor — most often selling life insurance, segregated funds, or universal-life products — meets with you for a 'family financial review.' Part of the package is a free will-preparation service, usually delivered through a partner firm or an in-house template, sometimes via an online portal.
The advisor takes you through a 30–45 minute questionnaire on the same call as the insurance application. You leave with a printed will and a sense that estate planning is handled. The advisor leaves with a commission application.
The advisor is paid by the insurance company you bought a policy from. Not by you. Their compensation depends on placing insurance products, not on the legal quality of the will. Every minute spent on the will is a minute not spent selling the next policy — so the will-prep step is necessarily fast, templated, and uncritical.
If your situation calls for a Henson Trust because your child receives ODSP, you won't hear about it: that trust takes a real lawyer or paralegal to draft, and the advisor has neither the qualification nor the incentive. If your spouse has children from a prior marriage and you want a spousal trust, same answer. If you own a business and need a succession clause, same answer.
The will gets drafted to the advisor's template. If the template doesn't have what you need, you don't get it.
This is the failure mode that catches almost everyone. The advisor hands you the printed will. They tell you to 'sign it in front of two witnesses.' That sounds easy. It isn't.
Your two witnesses must be 18+, present at the same time when you sign, and cannot be beneficiaries (or spouses of beneficiaries) under the will. Most people pick their adult children, who are also beneficiaries — and the will is now void as to those bequests. Or they sign with one witness and 'add a second' later, and the whole will is invalid.
Then the affidavit of execution: in Ontario the affidavit (Form 74.8) is what proves to the probate court that your witnesses actually witnessed your signature. Without it, your executor has to find both witnesses years later and bring them to court. If one has moved or died, your estate is in trouble.
The advisor handed you a document. They didn't hand you a legally executed will. The execution gap is where the value goes.
Add up the real cost of the 'free' will:
Willbeing exists because a Canadian notary firm — Canada Notary in Toronto — got tired of seeing botched DIY and free wills come across our desks for emergency rescue. We built the platform to close the execution gap: every Willbeing client in Ontario gets free execution at Canada Notary, two qualifying witnesses provided, affidavit of execution included, and the will into the Will Vault for lost-and-found protection. Same day or next day.
We do not sell insurance. We are paid by you, for the will. The questionnaire flags Henson Trust eligibility automatically. Province-specific clauses are baked in. Updates are free for life.