Monday, December 3, 2012

Dying without a will is no way to die



My spouse works for an insurance company but one of his responsibilities includes managing a property with 100 or so residential units.  Last week, the superintendent of the property called him to tell him that he had entered the apartment of an elderly tenant who had lived in the building for some 20+ years to find that he had passed away while he was taking a bath.

Despite outliving 2 wives and a girlfriend, a search of the elderly gentleman’s apartment by a close relative did not uncover a will; although it did uncover some $5,000+ in cash.  That’s no way to die and I am not talking about passing away in a bathtub but more importantly, dying without a will.
What happens when someone dies without a will?

Dying without a will means that there is no executor which means there will be a delay and most likely additional costs and much frustration along the way in dealing with the estate. There’s also a much higher chance of conflict amongst potential heirs. Here’s why:

Dying without a will is legally referred to as dying ‘intestate’ which is another way of saying the Province you live in will be in charge. If a family member steps forward to administer the estate, they must apply to the Province and the Province if satisfied will provide a certificate of appointment.  If no member of the immediate family of the deceased is willing to act as administrator, or able to take on the task, then the Court will administer the estate via a third party.

Dying without a will means that the province you live in will determine who your legal beneficiaries are and how much each of them will receive. Most provincial intestacy rules do not recognize common-law spouse status, so he or she may be left out of the estate entirely or they may petition the courts for support (read extra costs/extra delay)

Dying without a will means that no provision has been made for guardians for minor children as the Will is the place where one would make such provisions. Nor would there be provision made for setting up a trust fund so the rules of the province by way of the Public Trustee will determine how much your children get and when they get it.

Dying without a will means that details over final wishes are also not provided for so it’s a ‘best guess’ kind of decision made by family .No family member wants to guess whether their loved ones wanted to be buried versus cremated? Many have made the decision and found out years later that it was not what the loved one would have wanted.  
Solution

For a reasonable cost and small effort an entire family can be saved additional grief in all ways by ensuring a will is in place, up to date…and and found when needed.

 

 

 

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