A person wishing to file a will search request with the Barreau du Québec must:
- use the online search of wills and mandates service, attach the required documents and make the online payment;
- fill out the Search Request form, attach the required documents and payment and mail that to the Registers of wills and mandates of the Barreau du Québec.
Once the certificate has been received and if the result is positive and the contact information of the lawyer concerned are present, he or she must be contacted in order to consult or obtain a copy of the will.
Note
If the will search concerns a death that occurred outside
Québec, the act of death issued in the country where the death occurred must be sent along with the will search request. If the act was written in a language other than French or English, a translation approved by the consulate or embassy of the country that issued the act must be provided.
Costs and payment methods are the following:
- $17.25 for an online request, payable by credit card;
- $23 for a mailed request, payable by credit card, certified check or postal money-order payable to the Barreau du Québec.
For online requests, the act of death issued by the Directeur de l’état civil must be scanned and sent as a PDF, JPEG or GIF file of no more than 4 MB.
For mailed requests, the original copy of the act of death or of the death certificate issued by the Directeur de l’état civil must be provided. In order to have the original copy back, a duplicate of the act of death must be sent along with the original copy.
Note
Proofs of death issued by other organizations than the Directeur de l’état civil, such as funeral homes or hospitals, are not accepted. Moreover, declarations and attestations of death are not a valid proof of death.
