The long-awaited Wills, Estates and Succession Act (“WESA”) is now in force. The website of the Province of British Columbia (Ministry of Justice) has created a very useful summary page, including a summary of the main benefits as follows:
- clarifies the process of inheritance when a person dies without leaving a will;
- makes the process easier for a person to transfer the title of their spousal home when their spouse dies;
- clearly outlines the sequence in which to look for heirs to a person’s estate;
- provides the courts with more latitude to ensure a deceased person’s last wishes will be respected;
- clarifies obligations relating to property inheritance in the context of Nisga’a and Treaty First Nation lands; and
- lowers the minimum age at which a person can make a will from 19 to 16 years old.
The Ministry of Justice page also addresses the new probate rules and links to a frequently asked questions section.
Stay tuned…after many years of waiting, WESA actually coming into force is big news. We will continue to post entries relating to WESA, including our own high level summary of the Act.
