Close to half of Canadians don’t have a will. Who will determine who gets their assets? Who will determine with whom their children will live? If you die without a will, the provincial government will decide how your assets will be split. If you have minor children, the courts will decide with whom they will live until they are 18 years old. If you die without a will, your assets cannot directly be passed on to your children and will be administered by a government agency. You can be in a common law relationship of many years (including a same sex relationship) and if your common law spouse dies without a will, you may be left with nothing. A surviving but separated spouse could receive assets under their separated spouse’s will which are totally unintended if the deceased separated spouse didn’t change their will subsequent to separation and prior to death.