Category: Wills & Estates

Not Just “Plain-Jane” Cremation Anymore As professionals, we help our clients express wishes about funeral preferences in their Wills –...… Keep Reading

What You Ought NOT to Do Using a Power of Attorney As we reflect on the client situations we have...… Keep Reading

With all the buzz surrounding the Federal Government’s recently proposed tax changes, talk of income splitting and passive investments has...… Keep Reading

Are you a professional who would like to learn more about the perils and pitfalls of joint-tenancy ownership, as it...… Keep Reading

Documenting Intention After Transfer As more and more people look to joint tenancy as a “cheap” or “self-help” way of...… Keep Reading

The Forgotten Estate Planning Tool Is there a Shareholders’ Agreement in place? Did you know that it is a critical...… Keep Reading

In a recent court case in BC, a factually untrue, written explanation by a Will-maker for disinheriting a family member...… Keep Reading

When a relationship breaks down, resulting in an Agreement or Court Order pertaining to spousal support or child support, it...… Keep Reading

Since 2007 and the ground-breaking Supreme Court of Canada case of Pecore v. Pecore (“Pecore”), the Courts have decided many...… Keep Reading

Do You have a Claim? As estate lawyers, we get a lot of questions about wills variation – questions like,...… Keep Reading

In most Estates, there is no reason to fault the Executor, but one who abuses his/her power, causes harm to...… Keep Reading

If you’re the beneficiary of an estate, it may often appear that you are at the mercy of the executor,...… Keep Reading

In a prior bulletin, we wrote about common errors and misconceptions that executors often encounter when administering estates. Here are...… Keep Reading

Life Insurance Trusts During a previous bulletin, we discussed the downsides to naming a child (under age 19) as a...… Keep Reading

What Is Probate? Probate of a Will gives the executors the court-sanctioned authority to deal with the estate assets, as...… Keep Reading

The laws in British Columbia regarding wills changed dramatically in March of 2014, when the new Wills, Estates and Succession...… Keep Reading

Every so often we encounter a client (the “Insured”) who has designated their young children (or child) as the direct...… Keep Reading

A person must be “of sound mind, memory and understanding” to be able to make a valid Will. This means...… Keep Reading

Where a married or common law couple separates and enters into a separation agreement with respect to division of their...… Keep Reading

The Province of BC has announced welcome changes to its disability assistance program. Persons with Disabilities (PWD) recipients can now...… Keep Reading