Published on Zed Legal | Wills
By Zach Davis on January 7th, 2022
Of course, we’re all familiar with the ubiquitous ‘Golden Arches’, however, when one thinks of the world’s most famous hamburger peddler, legal issues and court cases aren’t the first things that come to mind. Sure, that famous US tort law case a few decades ago involving scalding hot coffee makes its rounds occasionally, but more recently, and closer to home, the Saskatchewan Court of Queen’s Bench ruled in 2020 that, yes, a Will handwritten on a McDonald’s napkin was indeed the valid, enforceable last Will and testament of its drafter.
Saskatchewan has a rich history of weird and wacky Wills—in 1948 there was the tragic, but curious case of Cecil George Harris, who became pinned under his tractor in Rosetown, Saskatchewan. Doubting the likelihood of his survival, Cecil etched his Will into his tractor’s fender with a pocketknife. Courts later determined that the tractor fender, engraved with Cecil’s dying wishes, was indeed a valid Will.
More than 70 years later, a Court of Queen’s Bench Justice in Yorkton, Saskatchewan ruled that a Will written on a McDonald’s napkin was valid and must be followed. Yes, one of those thin, brown napkins you use to wipe the Big Mac sauce off your favourite shirt.
Needless to say, it’s important that you don’t wait to think about your estate plan until you’re pinned under a tractor or having heart palpitations at your local hamburger restaurant. While a handwritten Will may be enforceable, it’s not worth waiting until you’re in a pickle to scrawl out your testamentary wishes, hoping that a court will recognize them as a valid Will down the line. Instead, we suggest a well-planned, lawyer drafted Will as part of your comprehensive estate plan.
Zach Davis, Zed Legal
