Estate planning
Plain-language wills and estate plans, drafted with care — and a steady hand through probate when the time comes. We draft with BC's wills variation rules in mind.
What we cover
Most clients book a single appointment for all three: a will, an enduring power of attorney, and a representation agreement.
Your will
A BC will that says what you want it to say, names executors who can actually do the job, and is drafted with BC's wills variation rules in mind.
Capacity planning
Enduring powers of attorney for finances and representation agreements for health care. The documents that decide who can act for you when you cannot — or simply when you choose not to.
After
Probate applications, estate accounting, and the work of getting an estate from death certificate to distribution.
What an estate plan should cover
Who gets what
Your residue, specific gifts, alternate beneficiaries if a primary beneficiary predeceases you, and provisions for any minor children.
Who does the work
Your executor (and an alternate). Your attorney for finances. Your representative for health-care decisions. People who can actually do the job.
What happens if you can't
Capacity planning. Who manages your accounts and signs contracts on your behalf if you become incapable. Who decides on medical treatment.
Frequently asked
Yes — for two reasons. First, BC's Wills, Estates and Succession Act (WESA) sets out how an estate is distributed when there is no will, and the result may not be what you want (a spouse and adult children share the estate, for example). Second, a will lets you choose your executor; without one, the court appoints someone, often after a delay.
A will takes effect after death; a power of attorney takes effect during your lifetime. A power of attorney is signed while you have full mental capacity and lets you appoint someone to act on your behalf — for example, while you are away on vacation, simply too busy, or later if you ever lose capacity. Signing one does not mean you are incapable; it is just a document that lets someone else step in when you need or want them to. Most clients put both a will and a power of attorney in place at the same time.
You can. The risk is that small drafting mistakes — ambiguous beneficiary descriptions, missing alternate executors, gifts that fail because the asset no longer exists at death — can be expensive to litigate later. The cost of fixing a kit will after death is almost always more than the cost of a properly drafted one before.
In BC, an adult child or a spouse who was not adequately provided for in a will can bring a wills variation claim under WESA. It can apply to most estates. We draft with this in mind — including, where appropriate, written reasons for the gifts in the will.
Once we file a complete application, the registry typically grants probate in 4 to 8 weeks. The work before filing — valuations, locating assets, notice to beneficiaries — usually takes longer than the registry stage. A straightforward estate runs 4 to 6 months from death to distribution; a contested one can run years.
Most plans take two short meetings — one to gather the details, one to sign.