Updating your will is very important after major life events like marriage or divorce. These changes usually impact your estate planning goals, and failing to update your will can lead to unintended consequences. When you get married, your priorities and…
Testamentary capacity describes the mental ability required to create a valid will. When individuals draft their wills, they must be of sound mind and capable of understanding the implications of their decisions. This is crucial in estate planning. It ensures…
Estate disputes are usually thought of as conflicts that arise after someone passes away. In some cases, these disputes begin while the will writer is still alive and can change their will. Pre-death litigation involves challenging a testator’s estate plan…
Almost every estate has some assets left after all the gifts have been distributed and estate expenses have been paid – this is called the residue of the estate. In some cases, the residue of the estate is the largest…
In order to write a valid will in BC, the writer must be able to understand and accept their will. This is called the testamentary capacity to make a will. Often, a will-writer loses testamentary capacity after suffering an injury…
It’s not uncommon for a will-writer to want to make a modification to an outdated will that they’ve written years ago. Often times, will-writers only want to make small changes to their will – maybe changing a single sentence in…
A will is invalid in BC if it isn’t compliant with the formal requirements of the Wills, Estates and Succession Act (WESA). In British Columbia, courts have the power to “cure” an invalid will which still represents the intentions of…
A testamentary contract allows a will writer to leave their estate to another person in exchange for something. Usually, this comes in the form of services, like end of life care for the will writer. A testamentary contract is a…
Unfair provisions in a will can be changed under the Wills, Estate and Succession Act (WESA) in British Columbia. However, the recent B.C Supreme Court case of Rawlins v. Rawlins (2023) demonstrated that even a will divided into equal shares…
We’ve recently come across the following question on a Canadian personal finance group: “Is there someone that could chat with me about naming a minor beneficiary (under age) with a trustee, vs naming the person I would use as a…
