Recorded on: December 10, 2024
Length: 60 minutes
Summary
The time after a loved one passes away is tough on everyone involved, especially when the process involves delays, disagreements or disinheritance. Lawyers Aaron Pearl and Emily Davies answer questions about executor duties, disagreement among beneficiaries, and challenges to vary a will.
Highlights
In this webinar, you will learn:
Concerns about executors doing their jobs
How to know if you have been left anything in your grandmother’s will and where to get a copy of the will. [3:20]
What to do if it has been two years since your father’s death and the executor of his will has ignored your requests for financial information and has not yet distributed any funds. [6:35]
Whether a beneficiary of a will who is also the executor can be compensated for their work as executor and, if so, whether the other beneficiaries have a say in the amount of compensation. [11:10]
The amount of time you have to start litigation against an executor who you think may have failed to deal with estate property that is held within a trust. [15:30]
Disagreement among beneficiaries
How an executor and beneficiary can safeguard interim and final distributions to beneficiaries when other beneficiaries have threatened to challenge the estate. [18:20]
How an executor can deal with beneficiaries who refuse to sign a release for interim or final distributions, and whether they can distribute estate assets without the beneficiaries’ consent. [24:15]
Wills variation claims
Whether your mother can disinherit you by putting all of her assets in a trust and, if so, what options you would have. [26:45]
Whether you have the right to challenge your grandmother’s will if you have been left out of it. [29:35]
Whether you lose the right to challenge your mother’s will if you sign off on a distribution under her life insurance policy. [31:10]
What you can do if your common-law spouse left everything to his children in his will (which he made before he met you and never updated), including whether you can avoid losing the house he owned and you both lived in together for 10 years and furniture and household items you bought together. [34:00]
Whether you can contest your husband’s will if he didn’t leave you anything and you signed a prenup. [38:40]
Whether you risk losing the small amount that your mother left you in her will if you challenge the will and it contains a “no contest” clause. [40:50]
Whether you can continue to pursue your father’s claim to vary his mother’s will on his behalf if he died before the claim was resolved. [41:35]
Whether you can put a lien on your father’s house until litigation is finished if you challenge his will and the house is the main estate asset. [42:55]
Live questions
Whether step children have the same rights as birth children in estate matters in British Columbia. [45:40]
How long you have to file for probate and whether there’s a penalty for not filing. [46:15]
Whether to file a requisition or a petition in the British Columbia Supreme Court to subpoena a will. [48:25]
Whether an executor can turn their duties over to a lawyer if the duties are too onerous or matters become too contentious. [50:20]
What an executor can do if, prior to a distribution, a beneficiary will not consent to the accounts or sign a release. [52:05]
Whether there’s a citation to move an estate along if probate is not needed because the estate is under $25,000. [53:30]
Featuring
Aaron Pearl
Aaron is a lawyer at Clark Wilson LLP in Vancouver. He practices in estates and trusts and elder law. Estates litigation can be highly emotional and all-consuming for all parties involved. Aaron is a strong advocate for his clients during these challenging times, guiding them through the difficult steps of their complex legal files with an empathetic approach. Aaron has gone through rigorous training with the Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners (STEP) program to earn his trust and estate practitioner designation.
Emily Davies
Emily is a lawyer at Clark Wilson LLP in Vancouver. She practices in estates and trusts. She supports her clients as they work through the difficult process of litigating a loved one’s estate or trust. Her goal is to give them peace of mind knowing that their legal affairs will be handled. She enjoys getting to the root of her clients’ legal challenges and examining their needs to help find an efficient and creative solution.
Attendee feedback
“Thank you all for providing easy to understand information.“
“Thank you Paula, Aaron & Emily for this helpful workshop! Greatly appreciated.“
“Thank you so much for the information and the lawyers participating.“
“As always, great presenters with good information.“
“Excellent presentation — very clear and easy to understand.“
“Thank you! I appreciate all you have clarified (and info I did not know I should think about).“
“Very valuable seminars with guidance for next steps if needed. THANK YOU!“
“Please continue in providing this much needed and appreciated service.“
“Thank you People's Law for the knowledge and education at hand.“
“I always recommend this organization. We need to know more about legal issues.“
Additional resources
From People’s Law School:
Accounting to beneficiaries, including the executor’s duty to account to beneficiaries and what’s involved in passing the accounts
Challenging your spouse or parent's will, explaining wills variation claims
Challenging the validity of a will, such as by showing undue influence or a lack of capacity on behalf of the will-maker
What can I do if I don’t like how the executor is managing the estate?
What can a beneficiary under a will do to speed up the process of distributing the estate?
As a beneficiary, what can I do if I’m not satisfied with the estate accounts?
Laws referred to:
Wills, Estates and Succession Act sections 26 to 35 set out a spouse’s right to purchase the spousal home
Wills, Estates and Succession Act section 60 provides for wills variation claims
Wills, Estates and Succession Act section 150 sets out how an executor can start or continue litigation on behalf of the estate
Trustee Act section 88 sets out the remuneration framework for executors
Supreme Court Civil Rule 20-6 sets out the rules for lawsuits involving a litigation representative (the executor or other person acting on behalf of someone’s estate)
Cases referred to:
Antonias Estate, 2021 BCSC 2388, where the court said it's appropriate for an executor to get an indemnity from beneficiaries when making an interim distribution
Kent v. McKay, 1982 CanLII 788 (BCSC) and Bellinger v. Fayers, 2003 BCSC 563, where the court found a no contest clause in a will to be void (a no contest clause attempts to limit a beneficiary’s ability to challenge the will)