Estate Litigation Law

An estate planning lawyer will help you choose a legal document that’s right for your needs and take care of the legal side, putting your mind at ease about the future. Estate plan – a written, administrative plan that outlines the logistics and financial details of an individual’s retirement and estate, including how property, income, taxes, and debts will be handled. The Wills, Estates and Succession Act is the Act that governs the validity of wills and estates. It was brought into force on March 31st, 2014. If you currently have a Will that was drafted prior to this date, it may be time to update it in line with the new legislation.

By keeping up-to-date on the tax laws and using a professional estate planning lawyer, you can ensure tax-efficient estate planning. Estate planning is vital to minimizing unnecessary inheritance taxes. A good lawyer can help you arrange your affairs in a way that minimizes inheritance taxes and provides for a proper cash-out strategy. You should periodically review your estate plan to determine if it is still up-to-date. That way, you will be able to make sure that all of your assets are properly protected and that your beneficiaries are provided for adequately.

An executor is the person appointed to distribute assets to the rightful heirs of a will or to administer an estate when the deceased had no valid will. The executor makes decisions regarding how assets are distributed, pays off any outstanding debts, and disposes of the deceased’s property as necessary.

The British Columbia Wills Variation Act allows a spouse and child to contest a will at the BC Provincial Court level. It permits a surviving spouse or child to argue that the will does not make adequate provision for them. The Wills, Estates and Succession Act applies to couples of all types, whether or not they are married. Spouse means a person who is your legal partner in a marriage-like relationship for at least two years before the death.

For example, Bert is Ernie’s therapist. Bert also happens to be the real estate agent for the developer who owns the complex in which Ernie lives. Bert starts talking about how he has heard that there are several units available for sale in the development. Ernie isn’t interested and doesn’t see the need to buy a unit in this housing project, but has lost interest in his friends’ plans for new homes that they’re building. In this situation, Bert is the one with undue influence. Bert, with more power than Ernie, uses his position to persuade Ernie into investing in his property development project. When a person has more power than another, they can use that power to coerce them into doing something.

One of the most common types of litigation involving a joint bank account is when one party has fraudulently taken money from a joint account. A party may be able to sue in small claims court for damages equal to the amount of money missing. The judge will sometimes make a decision based on the amount at stake. If it’s $5,000, for example, the judge may give the victim the money if she was not intending to keep it all. If you have a dispute over a small amount of money, a judge will look at the intent of the parties. In this case, if the other person did not intentionally take the money and place it in your account, the court may decide in your favor. The other party in the case would have to prove that the money is actually theirs. However, in order to do so, they’d need to demonstrate that it was deposited in the bank account at the time it was supposed to be there — and that the money was really theirs.