A will takes effect only on death. The documents that matter during a long illness, a stroke or dementia are the ones made while you are well, and in BC there are two.
Enduring power of attorney: money and property
An enduring power of attorney puts the person you choose in charge of your finances and legal affairs. The points of the Power of Attorney Act worth knowing before you sign:
- Who you can appoint: an adult you trust, the Public Guardian and Trustee, or a trust company. A person paid to provide your personal or health care, or an employee of the care facility where you live, cannot be appointed unless they are your child, parent or spouse (section 18). If you name two attorneys for the same matters, they must act together unless the document says otherwise.
- Capacity to make it: You must understand, among other things, what property you have and roughly its value, your obligations to your dependants, and that your attorney will be able to do almost anything with your finances that you could do (section 12).
- When it starts: The document has to say if the attorney’s authority begins immediately or only on your incapability, and that it survives your incapability (section 14).
- Signing: You sign in front of two witnesses, or one if the witness is a lawyer or notary (section 16). Your attorney, and the attorney’s spouse, child or parent, cannot be witnesses.
- Land: If the attorney may need to sell or mortgage your home, the document must also be signed and witnessed in the way the Land Title Act requires (section 16(5)).
- Duties: An attorney must act honestly and in good faith, with reasonable care, within the authority given, keep records, and act in your best interests, taking account of your current wishes, beliefs and values (section 19).
Representation agreement: health and personal care
A representation agreement appoints a representative for decisions about your health and day-to-day care, either to support you in making them or to make them for you. The Representation Agreement Act allows two kinds:
- A standard agreement under section 7 can cover personal care, routine financial affairs (bills, pension income, everyday purchases), and major and minor health care. Section 8 allows one to be made even by an adult who could no longer make a contract or manage those matters, as long as the relevant factors (such as the adult’s wish to have a representative) support it. If it covers routine finances, it must name a monitor, unless the representative is your spouse, the Public Guardian and Trustee, a trust company or credit union, or two representatives must act together (section 12).
- A non-standard agreement under section 9 can go further, for example to decide where you live, including a move to a care facility. The Act applies a stricter test of capability before one can be made.
If there is nothing in place
When an adult can no longer manage and has neither document, a family member may have to apply to the Supreme Court to be appointed committee, a court process supported by medical evidence. The Public Guardian and Trustee can serve in that role too; its nearest office is the Interior-North regional office at 1345 St. Paul Street, Kelowna.
Practical points before you sign
Tell the people you appoint, and give them a way to find the originals. A bank or a care provider may ask to see the document itself, so consider giving certified copies to your bank and a copy to your doctor. Review the documents when circumstances change: a separation, the death of a person you appointed, or a move into care. If your attorney lives far from Peachland, much of the banking can still be done online, but a representative for health and personal care decisions may be more useful if they live close enough to visit.
Signing your documents without travelling
Peachland is about 363 km by road from our New Westminster office, so signing arrangements matter. Wills can be signed remotely. Under section 35.2 of the Wills, Estates and Succession Act (WESA), electronic presence counts as presence, and the will-maker and the two witnesses can each sign a matching counterpart over video. Each witness has to be 19 or over (section 40), and should take nothing under the will: a gift to a witness, or to a witness’s spouse, fails unless a court rules otherwise (section 43).
Powers of attorney and representation agreements are different. The Power of Attorney Act allows other signing methods only if a regulation provides for them (section 17.1), so plan on witnesses being physically present unless we confirm otherwise. A lawyer or notary near you can act as the single witness to a power of attorney.
After signing, register a wills notice ($17) so your executor can find the original; it can be done online or by mail, since there is no Service BC office in Peachland. Sandy Minh Abley leads our estate planning group; see also our estate planning checklist and the page on wills.
When a Peachland resident dies: Kelowna or Penticton
Peachland has no courthouse. The two nearest Supreme Court registries are about 26 km north at the Kelowna Law Courts (1355 Water Street) and about 38 km south at the Penticton Law Courts (100 Main Street), by road from the municipal office on Beach Avenue (free-flow routing, October 26, 2026). Provincial guidance says a grant can be applied for at any Supreme Court registry, so the executor may use either, or one in another city, and names it in the Form P1 notice to the family (Supreme Court Civil Rule 25-2).
The executor’s main steps:
- Wills search: Two copies of the Vital Statistics certificate go with the application (Rule 25-3). Apply by mail, or at a Service BC counter such as Kelowna (Bernard Avenue) or Penticton (Calgary Avenue), with a copy of the death certificate. It costs $20 and the result can take 20 business days plus mailing.
- Notices: Deliver Form P1 to the beneficiaries and others Rule 25-2 lists, then wait at least 21 days.
- Application: File with the originally signed will and two copies, and pay the Probate Fee Act fee before the grant issues; our probate fee calculator estimates it.
- Take over from the attorney: a power of attorney ends when the adult dies (Power of Attorney Act section 30(4)), so the attorney’s authority stops at death and the executor takes control of the estate. The records the attorney had to keep under section 19 may show what happened to the money in the final years; whether and how an executor can obtain them is a question to raise with us.
- Distribution: Hold off for 210 days after the grant unless the court orders otherwise or the required consents are given (WESA section 155).
Probate files are run by our probate and estate administration team under Veronica Manski. Our article on what happens after probate is granted covers the last stage.
If the will is in dispute
- A notice of dispute (Form P29) stops a grant from issuing; it must be filed before the grant and lapses after a year unless renewed (Rule 25-10).
- Under WESA section 60, a spouse or child left without adequate provision for proper maintenance and support may sue to vary the will; section 61 requires the action within 180 days of the BC grant and service on the executor within 30 days after that.
- A will can be attacked for lack of capacity, defective signing or undue influence; section 52 puts the burden on the person upholding the will once a relationship of potential dependence or domination is shown.
- An executor can be removed, or passed over, on application by anyone with an interest (section 158).
A dispute can also turn on how an attorney handled a parent’s money in the last years; the Power of Attorney Act requires the attorney to keep records (section 19). Our estate litigation group, led by Candace Cho, KC, acts on these claims; for capacity and influence questions see undue influence and lack of capacity.
Who acts for Peachland clients
Three practice leaders cover Peachland estate work: Sandy Minh Abley for powers of attorney, representation agreements and wills, Veronica Manski for probate and administration, and Candace Cho, KC for disputes. Candace and Judith A. Janzen, the firm’s two principals, joined forces in 2012. The other estate lawyers are listed on our team page and in the cards below.
Also nearby: Kelowna, Summerland and Penticton estate pages. For separation, see Peachland family lawyers.
Questions from Peachland
Can my mother still sign a representation agreement if her memory is failing?
Possibly. A standard agreement under section 7 can be made by an adult who could not manage a contract, if the factors in section 8 support it. A non-standard agreement and a power of attorney need more capability. Ask us early.
Does a power of attorney let my attorney sell my house?
It can, if it gives that authority and is signed and witnessed in the form the Land Title Act requires.
Which registry handles probate for a Peachland estate?
Any BC Supreme Court registry. Kelowna and Penticton are the nearest; the executor chooses and names it in the P1 notice.
I made my will in another province before moving to Peachland. Is it still valid here?
Section 80 of WESA accepts a will as formally valid if it was made in line with, among other options, the law of the place where it was signed or the law of where you lived at the time. Validity of form is only one question, though: a will written for another province’s rules may not fit BC law on spouses, variation claims or probate, so have it reviewed.
Can my attorney and my representative be the same person?
Yes. One trusted person can be named in both documents, but they are separate appointments with separate rules, and a representative who handles routine finances may need a monitor.
Is there a free consultation?
Only for estate litigation, where the first half hour is free. Planning and probate fees are explained when you call (604) 900-2538.
