DIE WITHOUT A WILL? Your estate beneficiaries get Expensive Delays
Strangers Could Divide Your Estate
If you die without a Last Will and Testament, there is no "official" legally binding list of your final wishes and instructions as to how your property be divided and distributed. A probate court will have to appoint an executor and estate administrator or trustee to divide your estate for you.
Since you did not make a will saying who gets what after you die, the government and probate court will take over your estate and determine who gets what. Your estate will be charged massive fees for this.
Had you used the CanLaw Will kit for $55.00 you could have prevented all this, since the CanLaw Legal Last Will and Testament is very easy to use and you can create your will in a matter of about 20 minutes. Click here and download a CanLaw Will kit right now and get it done.
You should make a legal will. If you write your will now you will prevent a lot of serious problems which usually lead to huge vicious, expensive fights as your family battles over who gets what. These needless disputes frequently break up families for life. You should create your will. Do it now.
No Will? The Court Will Appoint An Executor
The probate court will have to appoint someone to act as your personal representative generally known as an Executor. An executor is the title for a person or institution appointed by a testator or the probate court to carry out the terms of their will.
If you do not have a will, essentially the court appoints an executor for your estate.
The general rule is that your closest relative has the right to be appointed as your personal representative. The process varies provincially, so your heir will have to seek legal advice and assistance resulting in more expenses and legal fees that you could have avoided by taking about half an hour to make your will.
No Will? Here's How Your Estate Will Be Distributed
- If you have a surviving spouse and children, your spouse will receive the first $200,000.00, and the spouse and children will equally divide the rest of your estate,
- If there are no children, your spouse will be entitled to your entire estate.
- If you leave no spouse or children, then your estate goes to your next of kin, determined by “degrees of consanguinity” (relationship) under the various provincial regulations in your part of Canada.
This is not legal advice or legal aid. It is solid legal information designed to assist you at no charge.
CanLaw Legal Last Will and Testament Canadian Legal forms are legal, binding and valid for your will, estate planning, living trust in all provinces and territories in Canada.
- CanLaw Wills are valid and legal in Ontario
- Wills are valid and legal in PEI
- Wills are valid and legal in Quebec
- Wills are valid and legal in British Columbia
- Wills are valid and legal in Alberta
- Wills are valid and legal in Manitoba
- Wills are valid and legal in Nova Scotia
- Wills are valid and legal in Newfoundland and Labrador
- Wills are valid and legal in Nova Scotia
- Wills are valid and legal in Saskatchewan
- Wills are valid and legal in Yukon
- Wills are valid and legal in Nunavut
- Wills are valid and legal in North West Territories
Wills and Estate Lawyer Approved Probate Court Approved
No Will? The Court Controls
Your Estate's Disposal
If you die without a will, the probate courts will strictly apply the provincial succession laws and control the distribution of your property to your surviving relatives.
If there are no relatives, the government takes your estate. End of story.
Your family could be caught without the means to pay the bills pending the probate court's disposition of your estate your assets and all your property. This could take years. All courts move very slowly. Probable court moves slowest of all.
In essence, a government employee is appointed as executor or trustee and steps in, at substantial cost and long delays and applies the rules of succession regardless of your wishes, the wishes of your family or anyone else, whether known or not.
What Is A Last Will and Testament?
Your last will or testament is a simple legal document by which you, the testator, express your wishes as to how your property is to be distributed at death, and names an executor, to manage the estate until its final distribution.
Anyone can easily make a will or draw up a will using CanLaw's Legal Will forms. Full instructions are easy to follow. CanLaw has been in business for 24+ years and we have thousands of satisfied users of CanLaw legal forms.
What if you die without making a will?
What Does The Executor Do?
The executor has virtually complete control over the estate and must follow the provincial laws to the letter, regardless of any problems that may cause. If you had made a proper will, the executor would be bound to follow your wishes. Without a will, the executor is bound by the law.
The executor gathers up the estate assets, pays the deceased’s debts, and divides what remains of the deceased’s estate among the beneficiaries. The beneficiaries, in turn, are the people named in the will to inherit the testator’s estate.
If you decide to act as the executor, consider retaining a lawyer to do the paperwork, supervise and advise you of your obligations. If you do, the lawyer’s fees will be paid for out of the estate’s assets.
There will be long time delays and heavy expenses involved in wrapping up your affairs,
CanLaw's Certified Legal Last Will and Testament kit is legal and valid for your will, estate everywhere and anywhere in Canada, including Wills in Ontario, Wills in PEI, Wills in Quebec, Wills in British Columbia, Wills in Alberta, Wills in Manitoba, Wills in Nova Scotia, Wills in Newfoundland, Wills in Nova Scotia, Wills in Saskatchewan, Wills in Yukon, Wills in Nunavut, Wills in North West Territories, Valid in all provinces and territories in Canada. Lawyer and court approved.
What if you die without making a will?
If you do not write a last will and testament or a legal will you die inestate. A probate court judge will have to appoint an executor or trustee to manage your estate. That means someone has to pay the executor who is then the administrator of your estate. Your heirs will need to get an estates lawyer or probate lawyer to provide sound legal advice and protect your heirs, surviving spouse, children and other beneficiaries