A testamentary provision is valid as to form if it responds to domestic law:

(a)

The place where the testator disposed; or

(b)

A nationality owned by the testator, either at the time of the person's disposition, or at the time of death; or

(c)

A place in which the testator had his or her domicile, either at the time he disposed of, or at the time of his death; or

(d)

The place in which the testator had his or her habitual residence, either at the time of disposition or at the time of death; or

(e)

For buildings, the location of their situation.

For the purposes of this Convention, if the national law consists of a non-unified system, the applicable law shall be determined by the rules in force in that system and, in the absence of such rules, by the most effective link that the testator had with One of the laws that make up this system.

The question of whether the testator had a domicile in a particular place is governed by the law of that same place.

Art. 1 applies to testamentary dispositions revoking an earlier testamentary disposition.

Revocation is also valid as to form if it complies with one of the laws under which, in accordance with Art. 1, the revoked testamentary disposition was valid.

This Convention shall not affect the present or future rules of the Contracting States recognizing testamentary dispositions in the form of a law not provided for in the preceding Articles.

This Convention shall also apply to the forms of testamentary dispositions made in one act by two or more persons.

For the purposes of this Convention, the requirements limiting the forms of testamentary dispositions which are accepted and relating to the age, nationality or other personal suitability of the testator shall be regarded as belonging to the field of Form. The same applies to the qualifications required by the witnesses required for the validity of a testamentary disposition.

The application of the conflict rules established by this Convention shall be independent of any conditions of reciprocity. The Convention shall apply even if the nationality of the persons concerned or the law applicable under the preceding articles are not those of a Contracting State.

The application of one of the laws declared competent by this Convention may be excluded only if it is manifestly incompatible with public order.

This Convention shall apply to all cases in which the testator died after his entry into force.

Each Contracting State may reserve itself, by way of derogation from art. 1, para. 3, the right to determine according to the law of the forum where the testator had his domicile.

Each Contracting State may reserve itself not to recognize the testamentary provisions made, apart from extraordinary circumstances, in the oral form by one of its nationals who have no other nationality.

Each Contracting State may reserve itself not to recognize, as prescribed by its law, certain forms of testamentary dispositions made outside Canada, if the following conditions are met:

(a)

The testamentary disposition is valid only in a competent law only because of the place where the testator disposed of;

(b)

The testator had the nationality of the State which had made the reservation;

(c)

The testator was domiciled in that State or had his habitual residence there; and

(d)

The testator died in a state other than the one he had disposed of.

This reservation has no effect only for the goods that are in the State which has made it.

Each Contracting State may reserve itself to exclude the application of this Convention to testamentary clauses which, according to its law, do not have an inheritance character.

Each Contracting State may reserve itself, by way of derogation from art. 8, to apply this Convention only to testamentary dispositions subsequent to its entry into force.

This Convention shall be open for signature by the States represented at the Ninth Session of the Hague Conference on Private International Law.

It will be ratified and the instruments of ratification will be deposited with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands.

This Convention shall enter into force on the sixtieth day after the deposit of the third instrument of ratification provided for in Art. 14, para. 2.

The Convention shall enter into force, for each signatory State ratifying subsequently, on the sixtieth day after the deposit of its instrument of ratification.

Any State not represented at the Ninth Session of the Hague Conference on Private International Law may accede to this Convention after its entry into force pursuant to Art. 15, para. 1. The instrument of accession will be deposited with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands.

The Convention shall enter into force, for the acceding State, on the sixtieth day after the deposit of its instrument of accession.

Any State, at the time of signature, ratification or accession, may declare that this Convention shall extend to all the territories it represents on the international level, or to one or more of them. This declaration shall have effect upon the entry into force of the Convention for that State.

Thereafter, any such extension will be notified to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands.

The Convention shall enter into force, for the territories covered by the extension, on the sixtieth day after the notification referred to in the preceding paragraph.

Any State may, no later than at the time of ratification or accession, make one or more of the reservations provided for in Art. 9, 10, 11, 12 and 13 of this Convention. No other reserves will be permitted.

Each Contracting State may also, by notifying an extension of the Convention in accordance with Art. 17, make one or more of these reservations with effect limited to the territories or to some of the territories covered by the extension.

Each Contracting State may, at any time, withdraw a reservation it has made. The withdrawal will be notified to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands.

The effect of the reservation shall cease on the sixtieth day after the notification referred to in the preceding paragraph.

This Convention shall be for a period of five years from the date of its entry into force in accordance with Art. 15, para. 1, even for those States which have ratified or acceded to it subsequently.

The Convention will be renewed tacitly in five years, except denunciation.

The denunciation shall be notified to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands at least six months before the expiry of the five-year period.

It may be limited to some of the territories to which the Convention applies.

The denunciation shall have effect only in respect of the State which has notified it. The Convention shall remain in force for the other Contracting States.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands shall notify the States referred to in Art. 14, as well as to States which have acceded in accordance with the provisions of Art. 16:

(a)

The signatures and ratifications referred to in Art. 14;

(b)

The date on which this Convention enters into force in accordance with the provisions of Art. 15, para. 1;

(c)

The memberships referred to in s. 16 and the date on which they will have effect;

(d)

The extensions referred to in s. 17 and the date on which they will have effect;

(e)

Reserves and withdrawals of reserves referred to in s. 18;

(f)

Disclosures referred to in s. 19, para. 3.

In witness whereof, The undersigned, duly authorized, have signed this Convention.

Done at The Hague, on 5 October 1961, in English and in French, the French text being authentic in the event of a discrepancy between the texts, in a single copy, which shall be deposited in the archives of the Government of the Netherlands and a certified copy thereof Shall be delivered through diplomatic channels to each of the States represented at the Ninth Session of the Hague Conference on Private International Law.

(Suivent signatures)