Death without a Will

If you die without a Will, you are said to die "intestate". Two immediate problems arise:

as there is no Executor appointed, there is no one to take charge of the handling of your estate; and
there is no formal written record of what you would like done with your estate.

In this situation, an Alberta statute called the Intestate Succession Act comes into effect. All provinces across Canada have similar legislation, although its contents and effect will vary from province to province.

In Alberta, this Act deals with the first problem by providing for the appointment of an administrator/administratrix to handle the gathering together and distribution of the estate. This must be done after someone applies to take on the job and the court issues an order appointing him or her, so there may be some initial delay.

The Act takes care of the second problem by setting out a schedule of blood relatives who may inherit the estate. For example:

if the value of the estate is less than $40,000 and there is a spouse and children, then the spouse inherits the whole estate;
if the estate is worth more than $40,000 and there is a spouse and children, then the spouse gets the first $40,000 and splits the rest with the children, in shares that depend on the number of children; and
if there is no spouse and no children, then the estate will go to other relatives in an order set out in the Act.

If there is no spouse and no blood relatives, then another Alberta statute comes into play: the Unclaimed Personal Property and Vested Property Act. This Act says that in this situation, the estate will pass to the provincial government. According to this Act, if a person dies without a Will, after 2 years from the date of the grant of administration, the Administrator must give the provincial government any portion of the estate not claimed by a valid heir. The provincial government must then keep this unclaimed personal property, or its equivalent value, for ten years. During this 10-year period, a valid heir could still come forward to claim the property. After the 10-year period has passed the property belongs to the government.

The result: if you die without a Will, your estate may not be divided up as you would have wished. Only you know what you want done with your estate when you die and simply telling someone, or even more than one person, does not suffice. Your wishes need to be in writing. In addition, if you do not write a Will, and if there is no one to whom your estate can be left under the Intestate Succession Act, your estate may end up going to the provincial government (Unclaimed Personal Property and Vested Property Act).

The above information relates to Alberta law only. For laws in provinces other than Alberta, please see our page of Additional Resources.