There is no Will – What Happens if my Minor Children Survive Me?
Author: Zachary Murphy-Rogers In our previous article, we discussed how the Wills, Estates and Succession Act (WESA) sets out a mandatory distribution scheme for estates ... Continued
West Vancouver (District) v British Columbia (Attorney General), 2020 BCSC 966
On June 29, 2020, the BC Supreme Court issued its decision in West Vancouver (District) v British Columbia (Attorney General), 2020 BCSC 966 (CanLII). This ... Continued
Virtual Execution of Estate Planning Documents During COVID-19
UPDATE: On May 21, 2020, the Land Title and Survey Authority of British Columbia clarified that if an EPOA is signed and witnessed by a ... Continued
Executing Estate Planning Documents During COVID-19
Physical distancing protocols during the COVID-19 pandemic have complicated the execution process for wills (“Wills”), enduring powers of attorney (“EPOAs”) and representation agreements (“RAs”). Each ... Continued
Health Care Decision-Making
The COVID-19 crisis has caused significant uncertainty and raised many questions. One issue that we may not consider until it is too late is health ... Continued
Surprise! A Blog on Secret Trusts
Our office has previously written on the topic of secret trusts. This article will discuss some further case law where attempts were made, both successful ... Continued
Traditional Indian Values Meet Contemporary Standards: How the Courts Address Inequality In Wills
From its beginnings, the Sikh faith was a head of its time and emphasized the equality and dignity of women: From woman, man is born; ... Continued
Aaron Pearl Published in Leave a Legacy’s Fall 2019 Newspaper Supplement
Sometimes a gift to a charity provided through a will becomes impossible to fulfill because the charity no longer exists after the will-maker’s death. Enter: ... Continued
Gordon Behan and Sam Shury Published in The Lawyer’s Daily
A recent Ontario Court of Appeal decision has given greater clarity to how the courts treat a will-maker’s knowledge of his or her assets. It ... Continued
Deliberate Alterations to a Will: Levesque Estate (Re), 2019 BCSC 927
A recent decision shows how the Court may find a will-maker’s handwritten changes to be legally effective. Whiting a Beneficiary Out of a Will In ... Continued
Case Comment – Gully v Gully: Giving a Gift of Joint Tenancy Can Come Back to Bite the Donor
The case of Gully v Gully, 2018 BCSC 1590 provides useful insight on a peril of putting property into joint tenancy. The decision illustrates the ... Continued
Bouchard v. Bouchard – The Intersection of Estate Law and Family Law
The recent decent of Justice Donegan in Bouchard v. Bouchard, 2018 BCSC 1728, shows the importance of attending to the procedural and substantive law of ... Continued