Wills and Estate Lawyers Vancouver

KSW Lawyers provides quality legal services for wills, estates, and related family matters in the Vancouver area. We offer legal advice that can help you protect yourself, your family, and your finances in the event of your passing.

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We know life is full of unexpected turns - you never know what tomorrow might bring. That's why it's important to plan ahead for your family's future and make sure your wishes are followed after you're gone. At KSW Lawyers, our attorneys can help you create estate documents that cover everything from what happens to your things when you pass away to how your children will be cared for if something were to happen to both parents at once.

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Working with our expert team of lawyers, you won't have to worry about making mistakes when it comes time to create these important documents. KSW Lawyers will guide you through every step of the process so that nothing slips through the cracks. Our estate experts regularly consult with allied professionals such as accountants and financial planners, who advise us on the best ways to ensure our clients' estates last for generations, as well as how to protect your assets from unnecessary penalties stemming from tax, probate fees, or provincial legislation.

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What KSW Lawyers Can Do For You: Our Practice Areas

Our estate planning lawyers are well-versed in various areas of law, including business law, family law, real estate law, elder law, and more. Their broad experience makes them uniquely qualified to help you with your will and estate planning needs.

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Estate Litigation

We know that dealing with the death of a loved one can be difficult. We understand that you may have questions about your rights as an heir to your family's estate and how to handle the transfer of assets while minimizing your personal liability. Our lawyers are here to help you in your time of need.

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Our team is highly skilled at handling all areas of estates law, including questions of will fairness or validity, claims of negligent or fraudulent estate administration, claims of trustee misconduct, filing a wills variation claim, adult guardianship cases, challenging testamentary capacity, and more.

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At KSW Lawyers, we recognize that these kinds of legal matters are often very sensitive, so we work hard to make sure that our clients receive the individual attention they deserve from our attorneys. Our goal is to provide you with an excellent experience during this difficult time and help you get through it as smoothly as possible.

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Probate and Estate Administration

Estate administration is a complex legal process that involves identifying and dealing with many different types of documents. Our lawyers can help you avoid pitfalls and ensure that all the relevant legal issues are considered.

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Our firm's attorneys specialize in probate and estate administration and can assist clients with the estate administration process by providing qualified legal advice and performing duties associated with an executor's role as a personal representative. We’ll take care of everything for you, from probate applications and disputes to other types of estate litigation such as wills variation claims.

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KSW Lawyers has years of experience in probate and estate administration and we'll be with you every step of the way. We can assist individuals, families and companies with all their estate administration needs. We provide counsel on disputes related to the division of property among family members, the division of assets among beneficiaries, and on the best way to manage an estate. We also advise clients on how to transfer property to a surviving joint tenant owner or on the transfer of property to the Estate after probate.

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In addition, our team can prepare applications for a Grant of Probate or Letters of Administration for estates where no will exists as well as assist with the preparation of estate accounts and obtain court approval of estate accounts where necessary.

Wills and Trusts

Our lawyers have drafted living wills, power of attorney, and other estate planning documents to help clients protect their assets for countless individuals throughout Vancouver and the Fraser Valley area.

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KSW Lawyers can help you plan for the future, and help you prepare a valid will and related documents according to the requirements set out in the Wills, Estates and Succession Act. We can help you prepare your estate plan for a variety of circumstances, whether you are single, married, or in a common law relationship. We can also assist with personal planning for simple assets, such as a home, to more complex and substantial assets such as a family business and assisting with business succession planning. Our firm will help you draft a will or will alternative that helps your wishes be carried out in the event of your passing and protects your loved ones from the adverse consequences relating to not having a will in place.

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An estate planning lawyer can assist you with numerous other legal matters to help reduce the burden on your loved ones after your death. Our attorneys use the best and most up-to-date legal processes to prepare joint ownership and trust declarations that are legally sound so that you can avoid challenges to the documents. In addition, our firm can set up trusts for various purposes, including probate avoidance, disability planning, asset protection, tax planning or controlled distribution of funds to beneficiaries. We also provide probate and wills variation avoidance planning, which can be used to minimize concerns about the Wills Variation Act.

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In addition, our lawyers can assist with executor appointments, including the use of professionals and trust companies as executors. We will also advise trustees as to their duties. We can draft marriage and cohabitation agreements, which generally involve wills in “blended family” situations, in order to assist in certainty concerning estate planning.

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Choosing the Right Power of Attorney

The process of assigning a power of attorney can be complicated, but it is essential to discuss the matter with your loved ones and choose someone you trust, such as a spouse, family member, or close friend. Your attorney will then have the authority to act on your behalf for legal and financial issues.

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We can help you modify or update an existing power of attorney, or create a new one. Our firm offers a wide range of services for power of attorney documents and our lawyers have an in-depth understanding of power of attorney and representation agreements and are aware of the associated implications for general, specific, and enduring power of attorney arrangements. Our probate lawyers are here to help you navigate the power of attorney process so that you can make an informed decision about which representation agreement is right for you.

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Will & Estate Planning FAQ

British Columbia

In British Columbia, the Wills, Estates, and Succession Act (WESA) is the provincial statute that governs the law of inheritance.

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What is a will?

A will is a legal document that directs the courts on how to distribute a person's assets after their death as well as their wishes regarding the care of any minor children or dependents they may have. In order to be considered valid, a will must often go through probate, a legal process that determines whether the will is authentic and was written by the deceased.

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Does everyone need a will?

Everyone should have a will because it's the only way to make sure your wishes are carried out after you pass away. It allows you to choose who receives your assets and how they are divided. Moreover, it will spare your heirs the burden of having to spend additional time, money, and energy settling your affairs after you're gone.

It's particularly important to make a will if:

• you have children or other dependents who need care or financial support after you pass
• you own property, either individually or with another person (such as a spouse)
• you want to bequeath money or personal belongings to anyone other than those named in your life insurance policy

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What will happen if I pass away without a will?

A lot of people don't have a will and that can cause problems for their loved ones when they pass away. Without a will, your estate will be divided up according to the intestacy rules of British Columbia. Unfortunately, the province's decisions on who will inherit your estate may not be what you would have chosen yourself which can become a stressful and costly ordeal for your family.

If you want to give your loved ones more control over what happens to your estate, we recommend getting a lawyer to draft a will for you. A specialist in estate law can help you create a will that ensures everything goes to the people you want it to go to.

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What is an executor of a will?

The executor of a will is the person who makes sure that the will and its instructions are carried out. The executor is also responsible for collecting the estate's assets, paying any outstanding debts and taxes, and distributing any remaining assets to the beneficiaries listed in the will.

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What is power of attorney?

Power of attorney is a legal document that allows someone to act on behalf of another person. In some cases, this might be someone you know—your spouse or your children, for example. They could have power of attorney over you in the case that you become incapacitated and unable to communicate your wishes. This way, your loved one can make decisions for you, like where you'll live, how long to keep life support going on and whether to disconnect it or not. You can also give someone power of attorney over your finances. You would do this if you were having difficulty making decisions about your finances due to illness or other incapacity. The person with power of attorney could then authorize payments from your checking account or take out a loan using your house as collateral, for example.

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What does probate mean?

Probate is the court process that every will goes through in order to be recognized as a legal document. The probate process is a way of verifying that a will is real under B.C. laws—this verification is important to ensure that the will is legitimate and not a fraud being perpetrated on family members or friends. Whether or not your will needs to go through the probate process depends on the agencies and financial institutions that hold assets within an estate, as they may require that a will is probated before the assets are distributed or accessed by anyone.

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KSW Lawyers Is on Your Side

Since 1973, KSW Lawyers has assisted families and businesses throughout the Fraser Valley and Lower Mainland with all their wills and estate planning needs. Our law firm is committed to providing the highest quality of service in the industry. We proudly serve clients in all aspects of probate and estate law.

If you're in Vancouver, British Columbia and in need of legal services, contact us today.