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British Columbia Probate & Estate Administration Practice Manual

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Manage your probate and estate matters with confidence

This publication is essential for: practitioners who do estate administration or estate litigation work.

If you work in estate administration, you know there is a high potential for error. Reduce the risk with British Columbia Probate & Estate Practice Manual, which takes you step-by step through handling probate and estate matters in BC. This longstanding manual is the answer to all your probate and estate administration questions, from initial contact with a personal representative to post-grant issues. This manual also covers difficult tax and conflict of laws issues, as well as potential areas for estate litigation.

With this resource, you will be able to:

  • confidently advise personal representatives on how to successfully administer an estate
  • prepare for and make probate and estate administration applications
  • better avoid and handle contentious areas during the estate administration process

Read a sample from the book

Features and Highlights

Highlights of the 2023 Update include:

  • all chapters, forms and precedents, checklists, and other features of the manual have been brought current to January 15, 2023
  • revised chapter structure and cross-referencing to reflect CLEBC’s newly published Estate Disputes in British Columbia: A Litigator’s Guide, with increased focus in this manual on the executor’s perspective at the intersection between estate administration and estate litigation
  • coverage of recent amendments to the Supreme Court Civil Rules, probate forms, and the Wills, Estates and Succession Act
  • updated figures regarding taxation and probate and court fees
  • new and expanded discussion covering, among other topics:
    • practice related to describing real estate on reserve in the deceased’s inventory of assets and liabilities
    • the impact of bilateral and tripartite treaties and agreements on the application of the Indian Act to estate matters and the rights of certain First Nations to legislate with respect to matters that may impact the administration of an estate of a member
    • legislative amendments impacting the taxation of trusts, and the inclusion of sections regarding the taxation of gifts of ecologically sensitive land and cultural property, listed securities, and non-qualifying securities
    • electronic wills (including additional discussion regarding the provisions permitting electronic witnessing and signing, and the proper procedure for conducting a wills search and revoking electronic wills)

Contributors

Editorial Board 

Dwight Dee — Miller Thomson LLP, Vancouver
Aubrie Girou — Alexander Holburn Beaudin & Lang LLP, Vancouver
Michelle L. Isaak — DLA Piper (Canada) LLP
Genevieve N. Taylor — Legacy Tax & Trust Lawyers, Vancouver
Geoffrey W. White — Geoffrey W. White Law Corporation, Kelowna – Counsel, Clark Wilson LLP, Vancouver

Authors

Jeffrey Bichard — Scion Law LLP, Vancouver
Catherine Bunio — Alexander Holburn Beaudin & Lang LLP, Vancouver
Gillian Crouch — Gillian Crouch Law, Vancouver
Dwight Dee — Miller Thomson LLP, Vancouver
Andrea E. Frisby — Farris LLP, Vancouver
Aubrie Girou — Alexander Holburn Beaudin & Lang LLP, Vancouver
Peter J. Glowacki — Borden Ladner Gervais LLP, Vancouver
Suzanne H. Grant — Swift Datoo Law Corporation, Courtenay
Kay E. Gray — Highbury Enterprises Ltd., Courtney
M. Scott Kerwin — Borden Ladner Gervais LLP, Vancouver
Roger D. Lee — DLA Piper (Canada) LLP, Vancouver
Helen H. Low, KC — Fasken Martineau DuMoulin LLP, Vancouver
Kate S. Marples — KPMG Law LLP, Vancouver
Sharon A. MacMillan — Miller Thomson LLP, Vancouver
Peter Mennie — Legacy Tax & Trust Lawyers, Vancouver
Braeden J. Rahn — Geoffrey W. White Law Corporation, Kelowna
James Rhodes — Ramsay Lampman Rhodes, Nanaimo
Isabel L. Romeral — Farris, Vaughan, Wills & Murphy LLP, Vancouver
Rose Shawlee — Boughton Law, Vancouver
Genevieve N. Taylor — Legacy Tax & Trust Lawyers, Vancouver
Ken Vimalesan — Scion Law LLP, Vancouver
Richard T. Weiland — Clark Wilson LLP, Vancouver
Mark S. Weintraub, KC with contributions from Amy A. Mortimore, Richard T. Weiland, Rong (Lauren) Liang, Emily Clough, Gordon Behan, Aaron Pearl, Catherine Repel, Michael Scott and Polley Storey — Clark Wilson LLP, Vancouver
Geoffrey W. White — Geoffrey W. White Law Corporation, Kelowna – Counsel, Clark Wilson LLP
Susan A. Willis — Indigenous Services Canada, Vancouver

Table of Contents

Chapters

Volume 1

1. Initial Advice for the Personal Representative

2. Devolution of Assets on Death

3. Pre-application Matters in Estate Grants

4. Proceedings Relating to Estate Grants

5. Applications for Probate or Administration with Will Annexed

6. Applications for Administration without Will Annexed

7. Probate Fees

8. Bringing a Foreign Grant into British Columbia

9. Applications and Disputes in the Course of Administration: The Executor’s Perspective

10. Transmission and Transfer of Assets in Estate Administration

11. Liabilities in Estate Administration

12.  Taxation of the Deceased and Estates: An Overview

13. Taxation of Estates and Testamentary Trusts

14. Special Tax Issues in Estate Administration

15. Accounts in Estate Administration

16. Remuneration of Personal Representatives and Trustees

17. Remuneration of Lawyers in Estate Administration

18. Estates Under the Indian Act

19. Conflict of Laws in Estate Administration

Volume 2

Forms and Precedents

Checklists

Tables
Case Table
Statutes and Related Material Table
Index

Buy Now

Amy“I am an estate and trust litigator. When faced with a new or less than common issue, particularly in administration or planning, my starting point is always CLEBC’s wills, estates, and trusts publications (especially the online versions).

British Columbia Estate Planning & Wealth Preservation along with British Columbia Probate & Estate Administration Practice Manual provide me with current and practical answers, Annotated Estates Practice is an easy way to stay up to date on new cases, and Wills and Personal Planning Precedents embody best practice standards for drafting.

I can’t say enough about how valuable the wills, estates, and trusts resources available through CLEBC truly are.”

~ Amy Mortimore, Partner, Clark Wilson LLP