4.1(1)The following definition applies in this section.

4.1(2)The requirement under paragraph 4(a) that a will signed in the name of the testator by some other person is signed in the presence of the testator may be satisfied by using an electronic means of communication.

4.1(3)The requirement under paragraph 4(b) that two or more attesting witnesses are present at the time the testator signs the will or acknowledges the signature may be satisfied by using an electronic means of communication, provided that at least one witness is a lawyer who is a practising member of the Law Society of New Brunswick.

4.1(4)The requirement under paragraph 4(c) that two or more of the attesting witnesses subscribe the will in the presence of the testator may be satisfied by using an electronic means of communication, provided that at least one witness is a lawyer who is a practising member of the Law Society of New Brunswick.

4.1(5)If a will is executed by using an electronic means of communication authorized by this section, the requirements that a will be signed or subscribed may be satisfied by signing or subscribing the will in counterpart.

4.1(6)For the purposes of subsection (5), counterparts of a will shall together constitute the will.

4.1(7)For the purposes of subsection (5), counterparts of a will are deemed to be identical even if there are minor, non-substantive differences in format or layout of the counterparts.

4.1(8)A will made in accordance with this section shall include a statement that it was signed and witnessed in accordance with this section.

5(1)A member of the Canadian Forces while placed on active service pursuant to the National Defence Act, chapter N-4 of the Revised Statutes of Canada, 1970, or a member of any other naval, land or air force while on active service, or a mariner or a seaman when at sea or in the course of a voyage, may make a will by a writing signed by him or by some other person in his presence and by his direction without any further formality or any requirement of the presence of or attestation of signature by a witness.

5(2)For the purpose of this section a certificate signed by or on behalf of an officer purporting to have custody of the records of the force in which a person was serving at the time the will was made setting out that the person was on active service at that time, is sufficient proof of that fact.

5(3)For the purposes of this section if a certificate under subsection (2) is not available, a member of a naval, land or air force is deemed to be on active service after he has taken steps under the orders of a superior officer preparatory to serving with or being attached to or seconded to a component of such a force that has been placed on active service.

7(1)In so far as the position of the signature is concerned, a will is valid if the signature of the testator, made either by him or the person signing for him, is placed at or after or following or under or beside or opposite to the end of the will so that it is apparent on the face of the will that the testator intended to give effect by the signature to the writing signed as his will.

7(2)A will is not rendered invalid by the circumstance that

7(3)The generality of subsection (1) is not restricted by the enumeration of circumstances set out in subsection (2), but a signature in conformity with section 4, 5 or 6 or this section does not give effect to a disposition or direction that is underneath the signature or that follows the signature or to a disposition or direction inserted after the signature was made.

8(1)A will made by a person who is under the age of nineteen years is not valid unless at the time of making the will the person

8(2)A certificate purporting to be signed by or on behalf of an officer having custody of the records of the force in which a person was serving at the time the will was made setting out that the person was at that time a member of a regular force or was on active service within paragraph 1(b), is sufficient proof of that fact.

8(3)A person who has made a will under subsection (1) may, while under the age of nineteen years, revoke the will.

12(1)Where a will is attested by a person to whom or to whose then spouse a beneficial devise, bequest or other disposition or appointment of or affecting real or personal property, except charges and directions for payment of debt, is thereby given or made, the devise, bequest or other disposition or appointment is void so far only as it concerns the person so attesting, or his or her spouse or a person claiming under any of them; but the person so attesting is a competent witness to prove the execution of the will or its validity or invalidity.

12(2)Where a will is attested by at least two persons who are not within subsection (1) or where no attestation is necessary, the devise, bequest or other disposition or appointment is not void under that subsection.

15.1(1)In this section

15.1(2)A person who has made a will and who subsequently marries and dies shall be deemed to have died intestate if the person dies

15.1(3)Where a person is deemed under subsection (2) to have died intestate, a person who is a beneficiary under the will but who will take no part of the deceased’s estate on intestacy may apply to the Court within four months after the deceased’s death for effect to be given to the devise or bequest in the will.

15.1(4)On an application under subsection (3), the Court may order that effect be given to any devise or bequest, or any part of it, contained in the will if such an order can be made without undue detriment to a person who would otherwise take any part of the deceased’s estate on intestacy.

15.1(5)Without limiting the generality of subsection (4), the Court may consider that a detriment to a person who is entitled to part of the deceased’s estate on intestacy and who is a beneficiary under the will is not an undue detriment if that person will receive, as a result of an order made under subsection (4), no less than the person would have been entitled to under the will.

15.1(6)Notwithstanding subsection (3), the Court may, after the expiration of the period referred to in that subsection, if the Court considers it just, allow an application to be made under that subsection in respect of any portion of the deceased’s estate remaining undistributed at the date of the application.

18(1)Subject to subsection (2), unless an alteration that is made in a will after the will has been made is made in accordance with the provisions of this Act governing making of a will, the alteration has no effect except to invalidate words or meanings that it renders no longer apparent.

18(2)An alteration that is made in a will after the will has been made is validly made when the signature of the testator and subscription of witnesses to the signature of the testator to the alteration, or, in the case of a will that was made under section 5 or section 6, the signature of the testator, are or is made

19(1)A will or part of a will that has been in any manner revoked is revived only

19(2)Except where a contrary intention is shown, when a will that has been partly revoked and afterward wholly revoked, is revived, the revival does not extend to the part that was revoked before the revocation of the whole.

20(1)A conveyance of or other act relating to real or personal property comprised in a devise or bequest or other disposition, made or done after the making of a will, does not prevent operation of the will with respect to any estate or interest in the property that the testator had power to dispose of by will at the time of his death.

20(2)Except where a contrary intention appears by the will, where a testator at the time of his death has a right or chose in action or equitable estate or interest that was created by a contract respecting a conveyance of or other act relating to real or personal property that was comprised in a devise or bequest, made or done after the making of a will, the devisee or donee of that real or personal property takes the right or chose in action or equitable estate or interest of the testator.

20(3)Except when a contrary intention appears by the will, where the testator has bequeathed proceeds of the sale of property and the proceeds are received by him before his death, the bequest is not adeemed by commingling the proceeds with the funds of the testator if the proceeds are traced into those funds.

21(1)Where a will is revived or re-executed by a codicil, the will is deemed to have been made at the time at which it is revived or re-executed.

21(2)Except where a contrary intention appears by the will, a will speaks and takes effect as if it had been made immediately before the death of the testator with respect to

24(1)Except where a contrary intention appears by the will, a general devise of

24(2)Except where a contrary intention appears by the will, a bequest of

27(1)Subject to subsection (2), in a devise or bequest of real or personal property

27(2)This Act does not extend to cases where the words defined in subsection (1) import

30(1)Where a testator leaves property in trust or by outright gift for a charitable purpose that is linked conjunctively or disjunctively in the will with a non-charitable purpose, and the non-charitable purpose is void for uncertainty or for any other cause, the charitable trust or gift is valid and operates solely for the benefit of the charitable purpose.

30(2)Where a testator leaves property in trust or by outright gift for a charitable purpose that is linked conjunctively or disjunctively in the will with a non-charitable purpose, and the non-charitable purpose is not void, the trust or gift is valid for both purposes, and, where the will has not divided the property among the charitable and non-charitable purposes, the trustee or executor shall divide the property among the charitable and non-charitable purposes according to his discretion.

34(1)Where a person dies possessed of, or entitled to, or under a general power of appointment by his will disposes of, an interest in freehold or leasehold property which, at the time of his death, is subject to a mortgage, and the deceased has not, by will, deed or other document, signified a contrary or other intention, the interest is, as between the different persons claiming through the deceased, primarily liable for the payment or satisfaction of the mortgage debt; and every part of the interest, according to its value, bears a proportionate part of the mortgage debt on the whole interest.

34(2)A testator does not signify a contrary or other intention within subsection (1) by

34(3)Nothing in this section affects a right of a person entitled to the mortgage debt to obtain payment or satisfaction either out of the other assets of the deceased or otherwise.

34(4)In this section, “mortgage” includes an equitable mortgage, and any charge whatsoever, whether equitable, statutory or of other nature, including a lien or claim upon freehold or leasehold property for unpaid purchase money and “mortgage debt” has a meaning similarly extended.

35(1)Where a person dies after the commencement of this Act, having by will appointed a person executor, the executor is a trustee of any residue not expressly disposed of, for the person or persons, if any, who would be entitled to that residue in the event of intestacy in respect to it, unless the person so appointed executor was intended by the will to take the residue beneficially.

35(2)Nothing in this section affects or prejudices a right to which the executor, if this Part had not been passed, would have been entitled, in cases where there is not a person who would be so entitled.

36(1)In this Part

36(2)Subject to other provisions of this Part, the intrinsic validity and effect of a will, so far it relates to an interest in land, are governed by the law of the place where the land is situated.

36(3)Subject to other provisions of this Part, the intrinsic validity and effect of a will, so far as it relates to an interest in movables, are governed by the law of the place where the testator was domiciled at the time of the testator’s death.