World Registry of Wills

In U.S. and Canadian law, legal wills are not required to be registered prior to death in most states and provinces, but are registered and put in the public record after the person making the legal will dies and the estate is probated. However, it is often still a good idea to have the signing and witnessing of a will notarized, to reduce the risk of disputes over the will’s validity after death. Wills can be used to nominate guardians for minor children, but because children are not property, the will cannot have the final word on the question.

Guardianship is decided by courts, though the usual outcome is that guardianship is awarded to the other surviving parent, or, if no parents survive, to the guardian nominated in the last surviving parent’s will.