Revisiting your estate planning - why now?

It has been a long time since the Canadian landscape of laws on wills and powers of attorney have changed.

However, we recently updated our BC laws on wills, intestacy and probate. (See Bill 28 - not in force yet, for the details). We are now simply waiting for the "system" to be prepared for the changes that the laws now state. The law was passed and the court clerks are still learning what to make of it all. We don't have a date yet, but hopefully it will be soon. These changes are meaningful and will affect some of my past clients.

More recently, our provincial government quietly passed an update to the Power of Attorney laws. The changes are subtle and worth discussing with your lawyer. One reason is for your estate planning. Your attorney can now make certain changes to your beneficiaries in limited situations.

Lawyers have no obligation to contact previous wills and estate planning clients to let them know that laws have changed and their existing "planning" might not be so good anymore.

If ever there was a time to re-visit your estate and capacity planning - this is it.

If your lawyer is not helping you, ask yourself why not.