Vancouver Estate Lawyers Publish Article on Intestate Succession

VANCOUVER, BC--(Marketwired - January 26, 2018) - As experienced Vancouver estate lawyers, the professionals at Kushner Law Group have just published a blog on intestacy-or what happens when assets are unspecified or a will is deemed invalid. For more, go to: http://kushnerlaw.ca/understanding-intestate-succession/

/EINPresswire.com/ -- The Estate Planning and Estate Litigation lawyers often preach the importance of planning ahead and, more importantly, executing a valid will that deals with all of your possessions and assets. But a will may be deemed invalid if it's poorly drafted or for other reasons.

In cases where assets are unspecified or a will is invalidated, the Wills Estates and Succession Act ("WESA") sets out the statutory scheme under which property is distributed by way of intestacy.

When considering intestacy, one must first determine who the valid estate intestate successors are. Sections 21-25 of WESA, and the first issue to be determined, is whether the deceased had a spouse. In the event that the deceased had a spouse and no children, the spouse is entitled to all of the assets. For the purposes of this act, a spouse is defined as:

(1) Unless subsection (2) applies, 2 persons are spouses of each other for the purposes of this Act if they were both alive immediately before a relevant time and

(a) they were married to each other, or

(b) they had lived with each other in a marriage-like relationship for at least 2 years.

It is important to note that upon a separation, the spousal relationship ceases (even if the parties are still legally married) and separation is described as follows:

(2) Two persons cease being spouses of each other for the purposes of this Act if,

(a) in the case of a marriage, an event occurs that causes an interest in family property, as defined in Part 5 [Property Division] of the Family Law Act, to arise, or

(b) in the case of a marriage-like relationship, one or both persons terminate the relationship.

(2.1) For the purposes of this Act, spouses are not considered to have separated if, within one year after separation,

(a) they begin to live together again and the primary purpose for doing so is to reconcile, and

(b) they continue to live together for one or more periods, totalling at least 90 days.

Part two of the blog will discuss the intestate succession rules for intestacies involving spouses and children. For advice on estate dispute or intestate succession rules, contact (604) 629-0432 to speak with an estate lawyer at Kushner Group today.

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The Kushner Law Group was founded on the principle that a small law firm should be able to offer the same level of legal advice as a big firm at an affordable cost. A unique combination of legal experience and creativity allows the professionals at Kushner to come up with creative and practical solutions for a variety of legal problems.

For additional information, please visit http://kushnerlaw.ca/ or call 604-629-0432.