Thank you for your insight Tighthead. I understand why the old one would be destroyed if you write a new will. Thats the point- there would be a new will. I just find it very hard to believe that HS, would not have had a will, and would have relied on Ontario statutory provisions to determine how her estate would be settled. I know there are wealthy people who have died without wills (Aretha Franklin comes to mind), but surely for folks with this sort of wealth this is unusual.
What I was trying to explain is once you make the decision to revoke your existing will, you destroy it immediately. It might be a day, a week or a month before you are ready or able to execute the new one. It may not be advisable to wait through the administrative delay with the old will still in existence.
Furthermore, it’s advisable to destroy an old will but the new will would invalidate it anyway.