6 Tips for Estate Executors to Make Estate Administration Smoother
Estate administration can be challenging for named executors, these tips can help ensure that the process goes more smoothly.
When are Beneficiaries Entitled to Receive Interest? The Rule of Convenience
Executors and beneficiaries are often aware of the executor’s year – a common law principle stating that an executor has a year from the testator’s death to finish administering the estate and distribute its assets. During the executor’s year, beneficiaries…
When does the Government Inherit an Estate (the estate escheats)?
We often hear from clients that are worried that a loved one’s estate is going to fall entirely in the government’s hands because the person hasn’t written a will yet. It should be known that it is extremely rare for…
What is a Fiduciary?
Fiduciaries have obligations to beneficiaries and a breach of those obligations can result in being held responsible for the losses incurred. A breach may also result in the fiduciary being removed as a trustee or executor.
Administration Bonds: Security for Beneficiaries
As part of an estate executor’s responsibilities, they must act in the best interests of the beneficiaries so that they receive the largest possible inheritance they’re entitled to. Executors have a fiduciary duty to act to the best of their…
Testamentary Capacity: How Capacity to Write a Will is Assessed
As part of writing a valid will in BC, the will-writer must have the testamentary capacity at the time of writing the will. As described in the Wills, Estates and Succession Act, someone with testamentary capacity is vaguely defined as…
Moving to a Different Province: Do You Need to Write a New Will?.
When moving to a different country, it’s obvious that the estate laws will be quite different than those of your home country, and an old will probably won’t be valid in this new country. An existing will likely requires a…
The Careless Estate: Beneficiaries Suing on Behalf of the Estate
The executor of a will has several responsibilities when administering an estate – including accounting for all estate assets, debts, and money exchanges coming into and out of the estate. When the executor is ready to distribute the estate to…
Valid Reasons for Disinheriting a Child
While BC has some of the most sympathetic laws in all of Canada for people who have been unfairly disinherited, parents can disinherit their children from their will if they have valid and rational reasons. Many provinces allow will-writers to…
Estate Dispute Case: Changing an Unfair Will
A recent case brought in the BC Supreme Court involved unfair wills with an estate distributed unequally amongst sons and daughters. The case of Grewal v. Litt (2019) involved six children and their parents’ mirror wills which were drafted to…