Wills & Estate

Wills

Wills have been around for many hundreds of years. They are one of the few legal documents that most lay people claim familiarity with. Despite that, only about half of the general population has a valid Will in place.

A Will is a legal document that sets out your intentions for the distribution of your estate after his death. In Alberta a Will must be written down in order to comply with section 14 of the Wills and Succession Act of Alberta. The Act does not say on what the Will must be written, so occasionally home-made Wills are made on tiny notepads, paper napkins or on the backs of envelopes. This does not automatically disqualify the Will from being valid, but there is no guarantee that the Will would be acceptable and, unlike other areas of law, by the time you find out that the Will is not valid, it is too late.

At Callioux Law, we work with you to customize your Will so that your intentions are carried out. Wills are the subject of a lot of litigation, frequently because of poor drafting. We can walk with you through your specific situation; newly married, mixed families, protecting your minor children, protecting your adult children’s inheritance if you pass away and your spouse re-marries. There are many different situations and some of these have certain requirements that must be including in your Will. You can rest easy with peace of mind knowing that your Will was drafted by a knowledgeable legal professional.

Enduring Power of Attorney & Personal Directive

Unlike a Will, which comes into effect upon your death, an Enduring Power of Attorney (EPA) and a Personal Directive is activated when one loses the ability to make decisions on their own. This can be because of a medical trauma emergency (stroke, brain injury), an accident or a medical condition (dementia, Alzheimer’s Disease, etc.). These situations are typically unplanned and if the appropriate steps are not taken to secure these documents are in place, then a family member or friend will have to make a costly court application with mountains of paperwork to be appointed by the court as an Attorney and/or Agent. If this is not done, then the Office of the Public Guardian and the Office of the Public Trustee becomes involved.

Although both documents are similar the Enduring Power of Attorney (EPA) deals with your estate and finances. Your Attorney will be able to do your banking, pay taxes, make financial gifts/donations, sell or mortgage real estate, operate a business, etc. Basically, anything you do with your money, they can also do.
The word “enduring” in the name of the document refers to the fact that the document stays in place (“endures”) after the donor has lost capacity.

The Personal Directive (PD) deals with non-financial matters such as healthcare and personal decisions, where you live, with whom you will associate, making health decisions, future directions with respect to your health (organ donation, life support directions, do not resuscitate directive.

Without these estate planning documents (Will, EPA and PD) your family may endure mental and financial stress at making the decisions and, depending on the circumstances, your decisions may be left to the government to make.

Probate and Estate Administration

There is a saying “if you want to get even with someone, make them your executor”. As light and funny as this is, there is a lot of truth in that statement. Upon death, in most cases, before any of the estate can be distributed the executor must obtain a “Grant of Probate” from the Court of King’s Bench. This is when the courts get information on the person who passed away, their estate, beneficiaries, etc. They also examine the Will and either validate it or reject it. If the Will does not meet the requirements of the Wills and Succession Act of Alberta it could be deemed invalid which means that the testator (person who signed the will) died intestate (essentially without a will). The Wills and Succession Act of Alberta then prescribes how the estate will be divided. If the court deems the Will invalid or someone dies without a Will then someone will have to apply to be the “Administrator” of the estate and obtain a “Grant of Administration”.

At Callioux Law we can also assist in obtaining the Grant of Probate or the Grant of Administration, as the case may be.

From the submission to the Court of King’s Bench to the distribution to the beneficiaries we have you covered with as little stress as possible.

Contact us today for all of your Estate Planning and Estate Administration needs.