In this episode, John's tale takes a twist. Despite having a Will, it's outdated, leaving his ex-wife as the Executor and excluding his current wife and kids. The consequences are dire.
In our anecdotal series, John, a prosperous accountant, dies unexpectedly without a Will. His family grapples with legal chaos and financial stress, underlining the critical need for estate planning.
The Alberta Court of Appeal upheld a case management justice’s order for a testator’s son to vacate the home he resided in for nine years and the house be put up for sale.
The parties in Meunier Estate, 2022 ABQB 83, disputed whether the deceased (Robert) had a will before he died.
When a testator in drafting their will has been unduly influenced, then they have not divided their estate of their own free will. The influence imposed by some other person on the deceased is so great and overpowering that the document does not reflect the will of the deceased.
Many people immigrate to Alberta every year, and some of them have wills that were made outside of Canada, also known as international wills. Are those international wills recognized in Alberta? Yes, they are recognized, but only under certain conditions.
When someone (a testator) writes their own will, this is called a holograph will. Alberta’s Wills and Succession Act states that holograph wills can be valid in Alberta as long as they comply with the Act.
Formal proof of will is one way of proving the validity of a will. The process of formal proof of will may be used where the validity of a will is contentious.
To die intestate means a person dies without a will. A person may die intestate if they do not create a will, or if the will they created is invalid. Further, a person may die completely intestate or incompletely intestate.
Beatrice Roberts was an independent woman who managed her own finances and did so carefully. When she died, she wanted to divide her estate equally between her four children and one grandchild. However, she also set up a tax-free savings account (TFSA) and designated just one of her children.
