Can an Executor be Required to Fight a Wills Variation Claim?
Executors often find themselves unsure of how to carry out the terms of a will. This can result from a lack of clarity in the ... Continued
Can You Keep a Secret (Trust)?
Discussion about using secret trusts when a will-maker wants to make a discrete gift.
Availability of Estate Planning Tools Confirmed by Court of Appeal
As referenced in our earlier article, Avoiding Wills Variation Claims: How Far is Too Far?, the Wills Variation Act (“WVA”) permits spouses or children of ... Continued
Estate Planning: A Litigator’s Perspective
This paper was presented by Amy Mortimore at the Pacific Business & Law Institute Estate Planning: Current News & New Legislation seminar, held January 27, ... Continued
Testamentary Capacity Issues
In England, the jurisdiction which esteemed individual property rights, it was recognized early on that a will made by a person not of “sound” mind ... Continued
Family Law Considerations in Estate Planning
These materials were prepared by David W. Buchanan, Q.C. of Clark Wilson LLP, Vancouver, B.C. for a conference on Essentials of Estate Planning held in ... Continued
Wills Variation Act Planning
While there is a general common-law principle that a testator should be free to arrange for the distribution of his or her assets upon death, ... Continued
Missing Beneficiaries
Estate Administration Act, R.S.B.C. 1996, c. 22 67.1 (1) This section applies only if (a) the deceased died testate leaving a specific bequest of real ... Continued
Incapacity Issues
In England, the jurisdiction which esteemed individual property rights, it was recognized early on that a will made by a person not of “sound” mind ... Continued
Court’s Discretion to Correct Wills Enhanced Under New Act
British Columbia’s Wills Act contains many technical requirements for executing a will. While these rules are designed to protect against fraud, they can also create ... Continued
Supreme Court of Canada Clarifies Unjust Enrichment Principles
The Supreme Court of Canada has recently released an important decision which caps a recent trend to expand the meaning of “juristic reason” in the ... Continued
Spousal Transfer can Lead to Tax Pitfall
The recent BC Court of Appeal decision in Zeitler v. Zeitler Estate, 2010 BCCA 216 illustrates why tax consequences must be thought through carefully even ... Continued