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RETIREMENT READY 2018 PUBLISHED BY BUSINESS IN VANCOUVER
How to retire
A WILL GIVES A WAY MARY-JANE WILSON |
I If you die without a will [the government] basically writes a will for you and you have no say in who gets what or who administers your estate for you
What happens – mostly bad – to your estate if you leave intestate
f you die without a will holding assets in British Columbia, you die intestate, and your assets will be distributed according to the Wills, Estates and Succession Act (WESA). WESA basically writes a will for you and you have no say in who gets what or who administers your estate for you. Who receives what depends on who is in your family, and they are called intestate successors. WESA sets out the scheme of distribution of your estate when there is no will as follows: If you have a spouse and no descendants your entire estate goes to your spouse. This is a married, common-law or same-sex spouse. Descendant means all lineal descendants through all generations. To simplify, we will use children interchangeably with descendants, but grandchildren and greatgrandchildren are also considered descendants. If you have a spouse and children and your children are from the same relationship, your spouse will receive the first $300,000. The balance of the money is divided equally among your spouse a nd you r ch i ld ren. T he i n itia l amount to the spouse is reduced to $150,000 if the children come from a different relationship. If one of your children predeceased you, their children will receive their parents’ share of your estate.
If your children are minors, then the Public Guardian and Trustee (PGT) holds their money until the children reach the age of 19, when it is paid to them. The PGT is the government body that takes care of people who cannot take care of themselves, which includes minors. There is no opportunity to set up a trust to postpone when they receive their inheritances, such as one-half at 21 and the balance at 25, or have the spouse or parent of the child be the trustee to administer the money as you would if you made a will. Your spouse also has the right to purchase the spousal home to satisfy his or her interest in the estate for a period of 180 days after the date of the estate grant being issued. If you have no surviving spouse, then your estate must be distributed to your descendants. Children receive their money at 19 years old. If there are no surviving descendants or spouse, then your estate is distributed to family members in the following priority: ■your parents in equal shares or your surviving parent; ■descenda nts of you r pa rents ( brot hers, sisters, nephews, n ieces,g re at-nephews, g reatn ieces; g re at-g ra nd nephews/ nieces); ■grandparents or descendants of grandparents (uncles, aunts,
first cousins, first cousins once removed, first cousins twice removed, first cousins thrice removed); and ■great-grandparents or descendants of great-grandparents. If there is no person who is entitled above, the whole estate passes to the government and is subject to the Escheat Act. If you make a will, you can appoint an executor to administer your estate. If there is no will, WESA sets out the priority among applicants who can administer your estate as follows: ■your spouse or someone nominated by your spouse; ■your child having the consent of the majority of your children; ■a person nominated by your child having the consent of the majority of your children; ■your child not having consent of the majority of your children; ■an intestate successor other than your spouse or your child, having consent of the intestate successors representing a majority in interest of the estate; ■an intestate successor other than your spouse or your child, not having consent of the intestate successors representing a majority in interest of the estate; and ■any other person the court considers appropriate, i nclud i ng, without limitation, and subject to the PGT’s consent, the PGT.
Don’t Die Without a Will. Retain a lawyer to make a will today. Our legal services include: Q WƌŽďĂƚĞ͕ ƐƚĂƚĞ ĚŵŝŶŝƐƚƌĂƟŽŶ ĂŶĚ ŽŵŵŝƩĞĞ ĂƉƉůŝĐĂƟŽŶƐ Q WƌĞƉĂƌĂƟŽŶ ŽĨ tŝůůƐ͕ dƌƵƐƚƐ͕ WŽǁĞƌƐ ŽĨ ƩŽƌŶĞLJ ĂŶĚ ZĞƉƌĞƐĞŶƚĂƟŽŶ ĂŐƌĞĞŵĞŶƚƐ
Wilson Rasmussen LLP ŽŵŵŝƩĞĚ ƚŽ LJŽƵ͕ LJŽƵƌ ĨĂŵŝůLJ ĂŶĚ LJŽƵƌ ďƵƐŝŶĞƐƐ
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Mary-Jane Wilson
wilsonrasmussen.com | info@wilsonrasmussen.com | 604-583-7917 Guildford Landmark Building, Suite 300 15127 100th Ave. Surrey BC V3R 0N9
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