Services in Ontario - Wills

During the COVID-19 situation, many legal clinics are no longer meeting with people in person, but will provide services over the phone. Call ahead for more information.

Legal Aid Ontario funds legal clinics across Ontario. There are two types of legal clinics: community legal clinics and specialty legal clinics.

Community legal clinics provide free legal services to people with low incomes who live in their area. Some help with wills. Search for the clinic in your area using your postal code to find out more.

Some specialty legal clinics provide free legal services to specific groups of people with low incomes. The Advocacy Centre for the Elderly may be able to help with some issues related to wills.

See here for a list of legal clinics that help with wills and Powers of Attorney.

In the GTA, the PBSC Wills Clinic helps draft wills and powers of attorney for property and personal care for people with low incomes. Law students provide these services from October to November and January to March every year. They are supervised by lawyers.

Call 416-548-5010 and leave a message. A student will call you back and ask you about your income to see if you qualify for services. If you qualify, a meeting will be set up.

In Kingston, the Queen’s Elder Law Clinic provides a range of free legal services to seniors with a low income. This includes help with WIlls, Power of Attorney for Property, and Power of Attorney for Personal Care. 

In Toronto, the 519 is an agency committed to the health, happiness and full participation of the LGBTQ2S communities. This includes services for:

• families and children
• counseling
• housing
• education and training
• newcommers
• youth

The directory lists all lawyers and paralegals licensed to give legal services in Ontario. You can search by name, address or postal code, language, and area of law. You can also search for services offered in French and for unbundled services.

The Ontario Legal Information Centre offers a free 30-minute meeting with a lawyer to anyone in Ontario by telephone or in person at their Ottawa office in any area of law in English or French. You may have to leave a message, and a lawyer will call you back.

JusticeNet helps people find a legal professional if their income is too high to get legal aid but too low to afford legal fees. If your net family income is less than $59,000, they refer you to an online directory of lawyers, paralegals, and mediators who provide help at reduced rates.

JusticeNet is a non-profit organization. You must register and pay a fee to use the website. They may return the fee if you don’t find a professional to work with.

The Law Society of Ontario has on online Law Society Referral Service that gives you the name of a lawyer or licensed paralegal who will give free legal advice for up to 30 minutes in any area of law.

If you can’t wait for a legal representative to call you back, or if you don’t have a call-back number, email lsrs@lso.ca. Or, if you’re in crisis or in custody, call 1-855-947-5255 or 416-947-5255, Monday to Friday, between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m.