Welcome to part one of a two-part series where we investigate the types of legacies (gifts in wills) you may leave.

There are three types of legacies: general, demonstrative, and specific. For our purposes, let’s assume that the testator (the will maker) has left sufficient assets for the legacies below to be distributed.

General Legacy

A general legacy is a gift of something that must be raised by the executor out of your general personal estate (which we often refer to as the “residue” of your estate). It is not a particular asset, rather, is to be paid for out of the residue of your estate.

For example, “I give one hundred (100) dollars to my brother, John Smith.”

Specific Legacy

A specific legacy may be a gift of a particular thing, or it could be an interest (legal or equitable) forming part of your estate. The British Columbia Supreme Court in the case of Celantano Estate v. Ross established that a specific legacy “must be identified by a sufficient description and separated in favour of the particular legatee from the general mass of the testator’s personal estate. In other words, a specific legacy is a gift of a severed or distinguished part of the testator’s property, thus showing an intention that the property shall pass to the legatee in specie” (at para 18).

The language of the provision is very important. The testator must make their intention clear for the gift to be presumed a specific legacy. For example, “I give my original Vincent van Gogh painting ’The Starry Night’ to my sister, Jane Smith.”

Demonstrative Legacy

A demonstrative legacy shares both the characteristics of general and specific legacies. A demonstrative legacy bequeaths specified amount or quantity to be satisfied from a particular fund or asset. Whereas our example of a general legacy established a gift of a certain amount, a demonstrative legacy will offer the specific amount and from which source.

For example, “I give one hundred ($100) dollars from the sale of my property to my brother, John Smith.”

What is important to note about demonstrative legacies is that should the amount from the particular fund or asset fail, the legatee is still entitled to the gift from the residue of the estate. Meaning, if the sale of the above noted property only renders $50 in proceeds, John Smith would receive the remaining fifty dollars from the testator’s estate.

Bonus: Pecuniary Legacy

Cha-Ching! Any gift of money is referred to as a pecuniary legacy. A pecuniary legacy will fall into one of the above-noted types of legacies.

The Wills and Estates Succession Act 2014 (WESA) is the BC legislation governing the law of inheritance. As such, there are several sections in the Act that testators and executors should be aware of to better understand the distribution of estates. Check for part two of this series where we draw your attention to these!