Tim Louis 
When the Will Is a PDF, Which File Is the Original?
Electronic Wills in BC and What Your Executor May Need to Know
Wills, Estates and Probate | British Columbia | October 2026
General legal information only. This article is not legal advice.
You make your Will electronically, sign it with the required witnesses and save the finished document. Years later, your executor opens the folder where you kept it and finds a signed PDF, another copy of that PDF in cloud storage, an older Word document and a paper printout. They all appear to contain the same instructions.
With a traditional paper Will, the first question is usually straightforward: where is the signed original? An electronic Will can make that question more complicated because British Columbia's probate rules distinguish between an electronic Will in its "original electronic form" and a later digital reproduction.
Those rules can affect what your executor must find, what may need to be explained in a probate application and what another person may be entitled to inspect. For anyone making or updating a Will now, the useful planning question reaches beyond the signing appointment: will the person you name as executor know which document to use years later?
What Counts as the Original Electronic Will in British Columbia?
For probate purposes in British Columbia, an electronic Will is in its original electronic form when it remains in the electronic form in which it was first saved after signing. If it later exists in a different electronic form, the Probate Rules describe that later version as a digital reproduction.
PDF is only the file type. For probate, the starting point is the form in which the signed Will was first saved.
The Province gives a useful example in its explanation of the electronic-Will rules. If an electronically signed Will is first saved as a PDF, unaltered electronic versions that remain in that format can be treated as electronic originals for probate purposes. If the signed Will was first saved as a Word document and was later converted to PDF, the PDF is a digital reproduction rather than the original electronic form.
Paper Wills train us to think in terms of one original. Electronic Wills can work differently: more than one unaltered version may qualify as an electronic original for probate purposes, while two files that look identical on the screen may have different procedural status.
A later digital reproduction is not automatically invalid. The Probate Rules anticipate circumstances in which a physical copy or PDF reproduction of an electronic original can be filed with additional evidence. If that version is used in probate, the applicant may need to explain where it came from and how it relates to the Will that was signed.
If an executor brought me several versions of an electronic Will, I would not start with whichever filename looked most convincing. I would want to know what was signed, the form in which that signed document was first saved, where it was kept and what happened to the file afterward.
Remote Witnessing Is Not the Same as an Electronic Will
Remote witnessing and an electronic Will are separate concepts under British Columbia law. WESA deals with electronic presence, electronic signatures and Wills that exist in electronic form.
WESA allows people in different locations to satisfy certain presence requirements through simultaneous audiovisual communication. It also allows complete and identical counterparts to be signed when the Will-maker and witnesses are electronically present with one another.
The resulting Will can still be a physical Will. The Probate Rules deal separately with physical Wills signed in counterparts through electronic presence and Wills that exist as electronic documents.
At probate, the executor must know what kind of document was created. The use of Zoom, FaceTime or another audiovisual tool during signing does not answer that question on its own.
When an Electronic Will Is Converted From Word to PDF
Converting a Word document to PDF normally feels like routine computer housekeeping. The words may be identical, the signatures may still appear on the page and nothing about the document may look different to the person opening it.
The Probate Rules still distinguish the two forms. The original electronic form is tied to the form in which the signed Will was first saved. A later version created in another electronic format is treated as a digital reproduction for the purposes of the probate rules.
Suppose the signed Will was first saved as a Word document and later converted to PDF because PDF was easier to email or print. The PDF may accurately reproduce the document, but that later conversion does not make it the original electronic form simply because the visible contents are unchanged. If probate is later required, a converted file may still be usable, but the applicant may have to identify the original electronic document and explain how the filed version relates to it.
File history can therefore become part of the legal evidence. What the court process needs is a reliable connection between the document being presented and the Will that was actually executed.
What Probate Requires for an Electronic Will
British Columbia's Probate Rules contain specific procedures for electronic Wills. Where the original electronic form was saved as a PDF, the rules contemplate filing that form. Where the original electronic Will was first saved in another format, the applicant may instead submit a physical copy or PDF reproduction together with additional affidavit evidence.
One of those documents is Form P45, the Affidavit of Electronic Will. The form asks the person completing it to identify the format of the original electronic Will, with examples that include Microsoft Word, Apple Pages and Google Docs.
It then asks for information about the integrity of that original. Depending on the circumstances, the person completing the affidavit must explain how they confirmed that the last editing date of the original electronic form was the same date the Will was signed and witnessed, or how the original was locked against editing before the copy submitted for probate was created.
A readable copy may not be enough on its own. The probate application can require evidence connecting that copy to the electronic document that was actually executed.
For a family dealing with an estate, small decisions made years earlier can suddenly become significant. The executor may need to know how the Will was saved, whether the executed document remained in its original form, whether it was converted later and whether the original electronic form can still be accessed. Planning for those details while the Will-maker is alive can spare the executor from reconstructing them after death.
When Someone Wants to See the Original Electronic Will
A person who receives the required notice of an estate application can use Form P46, the Demand for Electronic Will, to require access to the Will in its original electronic form. Where the sole original is held in a third-party electronic repository, the demand can instead require access to that repository. The Probate Rules generally require the applicant to comply with the demand within seven days. The rule lets an eligible notice recipient get to the original electronic form even if the probate package contains a printed or emailed copy.
Form P46 also refers to the separate Notice of Dispute process where concerns about validity arise. That is a different probate procedure with its own requirements. A dispute over validity is one circumstance in which access to the original electronic document may become significant. The document may eventually have to be found and examined by people who were not present when it was created, so the storage plan has to work for someone other than the Will-maker.
Where an Executor May Need to Look
An executor's search may now extend beyond filing cabinets, safes and lawyers' paper files. British Columbia's probate framework expressly recognizes that testamentary documents can be located on electronic devices and in third-party electronic repositories used by the deceased.
The search is limited by reasonableness. It focuses on places that could reasonably contain a testamentary document in the circumstances.
A laptop, tablet, external drive, lawyer's electronic file or secure Will repository may therefore matter alongside more traditional locations. Ordinary cloud storage can create its own difficulties because drafts, signed versions, copies and later reproductions may all sit beside unrelated personal documents.
The filename alone may not settle the issue. Final-Will.pdf looks reassuring until the executor discovers Final-Will-2.pdf, an earlier Word file and another signed copy stored somewhere else.
A clear storage arrangement can prevent much of that uncertainty. The person making the Will knows which document was signed and why it is stored where it is. The executor should not have to reconstruct that history years later without guidance.
The BC Wills Registry Does Not Keep a Copy of Your Will
The British Columbia Wills Registry records information about a Will and its location. Vital Statistics does not keep the Will itself or record its contents.
A Wills Notice can identify when the Will was made and where it is located. After the Will-maker dies, an eligible person can search the Registry to determine whether a notice was filed and what location was recorded.
The word "registered" can give the wrong impression. Filing a Wills Notice records location information; it does not upload the Will into government custody.
A Registry search can point an executor to the recorded location. The estate plan still has to leave an identifiable document there.
For an electronic Will, those two pieces should work together. Accurate location information is useful only if the electronic document at that location has also been preserved in a way that the executor can understand.
Changing an Electronic Will After It Has Been Signed
A signed electronic Will may still be editable as a computer file. Legally, however, WESA does not treat it as a draft that can simply be reopened and changed whenever the Will-maker changes their mind.
Section 54.1 provides that someone who wants to alter an electronic Will must make a new Will in accordance with the formal Will-making requirements in section 37. The ordinary alteration provisions that apply to physical Wills do not apply to an electronic Will.
Suppose a Will-maker opens the signed file months later, changes the name of a beneficiary and saves the revised document. The existence of that later file does not, by itself, mean that the Will has been legally altered. If the signed file sits beside later edited versions, an executor can be left with a much harder question after death: which document was properly executed, and does any later file have legal effect?
If your intentions have changed, the safer course is to deal with the Will as a legal document rather than as a file you can revise casually. The goal is to make the change in a way that leaves the estate with one clear, legally effective plan.
Deleting an Electronic Will and Revocation
Deletion can revoke an electronic Will, but WESA requires intention. A missing file and a legally revoked Will are not automatically the same thing. Section 55.1 provides that an electronic Will may be revoked when one or more electronic versions are deleted by the Will-maker, or by another person acting in the Will-maker's presence and at the Will-maker's direction, with the intention of revoking the Will or part of it.
The Act also says that inadvertent deletion of one or more electronic versions is not evidence of an intention to revoke. Electronic files can disappear accidentally, synchronize across devices, survive in backups or remain stored in several locations.
Revocation turns on intention as well as the act of deletion. If someone wants to revoke or replace an electronic Will, the legal change should be made deliberately and documented clearly rather than left to ordinary file management.
Emails, Text Messages and Section 58 of WESA
An email, text message or computer note can raise a different legal question from a formally executed electronic Will. Those records were not made under the ordinary Will-making formalities, but section 58 can still bring an electronic record before the court in appropriate circumstances.
British Columbia does have a curative provision. Section 58 of WESA gives the court authority, in appropriate circumstances, to give testamentary effect to a record that does not comply with the ordinary formal requirements where the court determines that the record represents the deceased person's testamentary intentions, or an intention to alter, revoke or revive a testamentary disposition.
The statutory concept of a record can include electronically stored information, so an email, text message or computer document can become relevant in a section 58 application. A message does not become a Will merely because it says who should receive someone's property.
In Paige v Noel, 2025 BCCA 358, the British Columbia Court of Appeal considered electronic communications about proposed changes to a Will. The case separates a message about a planned testamentary change from a record intended to carry that change into legal effect.
A person can be completely clear about what they plan to change and still expect a new Will to be prepared before the change takes legal effect. Informal digital records and formally executed electronic Wills therefore raise different legal questions.
A formal electronic Will begins inside WESA's Will-making framework. An informal electronic record may instead leave the estate asking a court to decide what the deceased intended after the person who wrote the record is no longer available to explain it.
How I Would Review an Electronic Will Plan
When someone asks me whether an electronic Will is appropriate, I start with the estate itself. Who are the beneficiaries? Who will act as executor? Are there trusts, disability considerations, a blended family, business interests or property arrangements that need special attention? I also want to know how the Will fits with a Power of Attorney, Representation Agreement or other planning documents.
Then I want to know where the signed Will will live and how it will be retrieved. Will the executor know which file is the signed document? If a Wills Notice is filed, does it point to the right place? A secure repository can help with access, but it cannot make up for uncertainty about which document was actually executed.
I also ask what happens if the Will changes. Will an older version still be sitting beside the new one? Will the executor know which document replaced which? Those details are easy to overlook while the Will-maker is alive and much harder to reconstruct after death.
For me, the practical test is whether the chosen format makes the estate plan easier to carry out and leaves the executor with a document they can identify and use. If you are choosing between an electronic Will and a traditional Will, I can review the document in the context of the whole plan and help you decide how it should be executed, preserved and made findable for the executor you have chosen.
If You Are the Executor and Have Found Several Files
If someone has already died, I take a different approach. An executor may have a signed PDF, another copy stored elsewhere, an editable source file, a printout or files with different modification dates. Before changing filenames, reorganizing folders or deleting anything, preserve what you found.
Then I would trace each version. I would want to know where the file came from, whether a Wills Notice was registered, whether a lawyer or electronic repository may hold another version and what is known about how the Will was executed and stored.
Sometimes that review produces a straightforward answer. In another estate, competing versions, file history or concerns about validity may need to be addressed before the probate application moves forward.
You do not need to resolve the file history before asking for advice. The review can begin with the documents you have, where you found them and anything you know about how the Will was signed or stored.
When the Executor Opens the Folder
By the time the executor opens the folder, the planning choices are already in the past. The signed PDF, cloud copy, Word file and paper printout now have to be understood as part of an estate administration problem.
British Columbia's electronic-Will rules help the executor work through that problem. The questions can include what was actually signed, the electronic form in which it was first saved, whether the version now being relied on remained unaltered, where the original electronic form can be accessed and what evidence the probate process requires.
The medium changes some of the mechanics, but the planning goal stays familiar. Your intentions should be expressed clearly, and the person responsible for carrying them out should be able to locate and use the document when it is needed.
If you are making or updating a Will in British Columbia, I can review the estate plan with you before the document is signed. If you are already acting as executor and have found an electronic Will or several possible versions, I can help you work through what you have and what the probate process may require.
Frequently Asked Questions About Electronic Wills in BC
If I print my electronic Will, does the printout become the original Will?
Not simply because it has been printed. British Columbia’s Probate Rules distinguish the original electronic form from later copies or reproductions. A physical or PDF copy may still be used in a probate application in some circumstances, but additional evidence may be required to connect that copy to the electronic Will that was executed.
Where should I keep an electronic Will?
The important question is whether the executed Will can still be identified and accessed when your executor needs it. A secure electronic repository, a lawyer’s file or another reliable storage arrangement may work, but the executor should know where the Will is kept. A Wills Notice can record its location, although the BC Wills Registry does not keep the Will itself.
What should an executor do if several versions of the Will are found?
Preserve the files before renaming, editing or deleting anything. The original electronic form, file history, location of each version and information about how the Will was executed may become relevant. If it is unclear which document should be relied upon, legal review before filing for probate can help avoid making assumptions about the wrong version.
Can I change an electronic Will by editing the signed file?
No. WESA section 54.1 requires a person who wants to alter an electronic Will to make a new Will in accordance with the statutory Will-making requirements. Simply changing the wording in the existing signed file does not accomplish that.
Should I speak with a lawyer before making an electronic Will?
Electronic Wills can be valid in British Columbia, but the choice involves more than the signing format. Your executor, beneficiaries, storage arrangements, other estate-planning documents and the possibility of future changes should all fit together. A lawyer can help determine whether an electronic Will or a traditional paper Will is the better fit for your estate plan.
Sources and Further Reading
1. Wills, Estates and Succession Act, SBC 2009, c 13
British Columbia's statutory framework for electronic Wills, electronic presence and signatures, formal Will requirements, alteration, revocation and the court's curative authority under section 58.
2. Supreme Court Civil Rules, Part 25
The Probate Rules define original electronic form and digital reproduction and govern filing, notice, access and other procedures involving electronic Wills.
3. Form P45, Affidavit of Electronic Will
The prescribed affidavit addresses the original electronic format and the evidence used to connect a probate copy with the electronic document that was executed.
4. Form P46, Demand for Electronic Will
The prescribed form allows a qualifying notice recipient to require the Will in its original electronic form or access to the third-party electronic repository where the original can be viewed.
5. Province of British Columbia, Explanation of Amendments to the Supreme Court Civil Rules for Electronic Wills
The provincial guidance provides practical examples of electronic originals and digital reproductions. Current legislation and court rules remain controlling.
6. British Columbia Wills Registry, Vital Statistics Agency
The Registry records information about a Will and its location but does not retain the Will itself or record its contents.
7. Paige v Noel, 2025 BCCA 358
The British Columbia Court of Appeal considered whether electronic communications expressing an intention to make a future testamentary change were themselves intended to have testamentary effect.
