By this point, we hope that you know you should have a will!  A will provides many essential purposes, such as ensuring that your loved ones are taken care of and that your last wishes are complied with.

But did you know that if you do not have a will, there is a statutory scheme in place that dictates what will happen to your assets?  When a person in BC dies without a will, that person is said to have died “intestate”.  In BC, part 3 of the Wills, Estates and Succession Act (“WESA”) sets out the legislative scheme for the distribution of assets in the case of intestacy.

When a person dies intestate with a spouse and no descendants, their entire estate goes to their spouse.  When they die with a spouse and shared descendants (i.e. the deceased and their spouse had children together), the spouse is entitled to the first $300,000, and the remainder is split one half to the spouse, and one half is split equally amongst the deceased’s descendants.

If the deceased had a spouse and children that are not shared with the spouse, the spouse is entitled to the first $150,000, and the remainder is split as above. If the deceased had descendants but no spouse, their assets are split equally among the descendants.

You’ll note that we are using the term “descendants” rather than “children”.  Descendants is defined as all lineal descendants of the deceased, through all generations.  This means that if you have a child who has children of their own (being your grandchildren), and that child has died before you, the children of that dead child will inherit the portion that the dead child would have been entitled to.

Let’s look at an example:

• Annie dies and is survived by:
  • Her daughter, Barbara, and
  • Two grandchildren (one belonging to Barbara, and one belonging to her son, Chris).
• Her spouse, Daniel, and her son, Chris, died before her.
• In this scenario, Annie’s assets are split equally among her descendants, meaning:
  • Barbara receives half of Annie’s estate, and Chris’ child receives half of Annie’s estate.
  • Barbara’s child receives nothing, because Barbara is still alive.

If someone does not have a spouse or children, and therefore no other descendants, their parents would be the next in line to inherit.  If their parents had died already, then their siblings would inherit, and on and on down the line.  WESA does put a limit on the generation of relatives that may inherit – stay tuned for a blog that discusses what happens when we get to the end of the line of relatives that are entitled to inherit under an intestacy.

If the above doesn’t fit what you would want to have happen to your assets if you die, then that is yet another reason to create a will!

Author: Jane Otterstrom

This information is general in nature only. You should consult a lawyer before acting on any of this information. This information should not be considered as legal advice. To learn more about your legal needs, please contact our office at (250)448-2637 or any of our lawyers practicing in the area of wills and estates at the following:

Jane Otterstrom: jane@touchstone.law