Hot topic New Wills and Estates Legislation for Bc
By Rose Shawlee
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Wills and Estates lawyers caution clients once they’ve prepared their estate plan to make sure they make themselves aware of any significant developments in the law, the idea being that if the laws change maybe the estate plan should as well: great advice in theory, but tricky to implement. How are you supposed to know when new laws come into effect or when old ones are updated? Changes in estate law are rarely hot topics that make the 6 o’clock news.
At present there are at least 3 primary pieces of legislation, and several
ancillary ones, that govern how a Will has to be made and how an Estate will be dealt with once someone dies.
A new law has been passed and is expected to come into force in the Fall of 2011, that will consolidate the majority of the legislation governing the creation of Wills and the management and distribution of Estates. This consolidation will likely be a step toward efficiency and making information more accessible to the public.
The new legislation is called the Wills, Estates and Succession Act of British Columbia and is affectionately referred to as WESA (largely because we in the legal field are suckers for pithy acronyms).
WESA has several notable features, which cannot be done justice here. The following therefore presents a cursory look at some of the changes affecting intestacy (where one dies without a Will).
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While I generally recommend that everyone have a Will, should you not have one,
WESA will be extremely important as it represents a considerable revision to what happens to an estate if someone dies intestate.
One such revision is how an intestate Estate will be distributed where people die with multiple spouses, which is more common than might be anticipated. It most frequently arises when married spouses separate but do not divorce. Under many laws, such separated spouses are still considered spouses. If a separated but not divorced spouse then enters into a common law relationship and dies, the deceased may be considered to have died with multiple spouses: the separated spouse and the common law spouse. The revisions deal with how an intestate estate will be divided between such spouses and sets out circumstances in which the separated spouse will no longer be entitled to inherit.
Another key change for intestate estates is that it changes how an intestate estate will have its assets divided where there is a blended family and the amounts that will go to the spouses and children.
WESA represents a sweeping change in the field of Wills and Estates. If you do not presently have a Will, the impact could significant. If you have a Will, you may wish to contact your lawyer to discuss WESA and ensure your estate plan is current and meets your needs.
If you have questions or if there are topics you’d like addressed in future columns please contact Rose Shawlee at Baker Newby LLP at rshawlee@
bakernewby.com
Important Note: The information contained in this column should not be treated by readers as legal advice and should not be relied on without detailed legal counsel being first sought.
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