Which Vancouver courthouse deals with an estate
Two court buildings sit close together downtown, and only one of them matters for an estate.
- The Law Courts building at 800 Smithe Street houses the Supreme Court. Section 1 of the Wills, Estates and Succession Act (WESA) defines “court” as that court, which puts every probate or administration grant, every claim to vary a will, every application about an executor and every challenge to a will’s validity before it, here or at one of its other registries.
- Robson Square, at 800 Hornby Street, is the Provincial Court registry for family, small claims, youth and traffic matters. It has no role in probate or estate litigation, even though it is across the street.
A Vancouver address does not oblige anyone to use the Smithe Street counter. The Province’s guidance lets an applicant seek probate, or letters of administration, at whichever Supreme Court registry in the province they prefer, and the court’s own registry directory (June 2026) lists a probate desk at the Vancouver registry. In practice the choice is made early, because the notice that goes to beneficiaries before the application names the registry where it will be filed. Contested estates are litigated in the same court; the person who starts the claim names a place of trial, and the court can move it.
Probate and administration from a Vancouver address
Whoever is named as executor, or appointed administrator when there is no will, will need a grant before most banks, investment firms or the Land Title and Survey Authority deal with them. The Supreme Court Civil Rules set the order of the steps:
- Search the wills registry. The probate application must include a Vital Statistics certificate showing whether a wills notice was filed. The Service BC centre in Vancouver does not offer this service, and neither do the Burnaby and Surrey centres, so a Vancouver executor sends the request by post, or takes it to a Service BC office outside those three cities. It costs $20; mailed results print within 20 business days, or within one business day for an extra $33 courier fee.
- Give notice. A notice of proposed application (Form P1) goes to the other executors, the beneficiaries and, if there is no will, the people entitled on an intestacy. Where a person entitled to notice is a minor, or is or may be mentally incompetent, the Public Guardian and Trustee must also receive it, subject to a narrow exception for a minor’s trust set up in the will.
- Wait 21 days after the notices are delivered, then file the application with an affidavit listing the assets and liabilities.
- Pay the probate fee. There is none on an estate of $25,000 or less. Above that, the Probate Fee Act sets $6 for each $1,000 or portion of $1,000 from $25,000 up to $50,000, then $14 for each $1,000 or portion over $50,000. Real and tangible property in BC is counted, plus, for someone ordinarily resident in BC, their intangible property wherever it is; property that passes directly to a surviving joint owner is not part of the estate. Our probate fee calculator runs the arithmetic.
If any document filed with the application is not in English, it must be accompanied by an affidavit of the translator. Once the grant issues, WESA section 155 bars distribution for 210 days unless the court orders otherwise or the required consents are given, and section 142 obliges the personal representative to account to the beneficiaries. Our probate and estate administration lawyers, led by Veronica Manski, draft and file the applications for probate and administration grants and deal with any requisition the registry raises. On timing, see probate timelines in BC; for what executors may charge, see executor fees in BC.
When someone dies without a will
Without a will, Part 3 of WESA fixes the shares by formula, whatever the family might have expected. Where the deceased left a spouse and children who are all children of both of them, the spouse takes the household furnishings and a preferential share of $300,000; if any child is from another relationship, the preferential share is $150,000. Whatever is left after that is split, half to the spouse and half to the descendants. With no spouse, the estate goes to the descendants, then to parents, then to brothers and sisters and their families, and further out along set lines.
Someone still has to apply to administer the estate. Section 130 sets an order of priority, starting with the spouse (or a person the spouse nominates), then a child who has the consent of most of the children, and continuing down a statutory list. The court can depart from that order, and where nobody is willing, the Public Guardian and Trustee may act. A family that cannot agree on who should be administrator, or on what counts as the estate, is already in an estate dispute. Our guide to administering an estate when someone dies without a will and our article on what a child receives when a parent dies without a will explain more.
When a Vancouver estate is disputed
Estate disputes turn on deadlines that start running from the grant, so the date of probate matters as much as the facts.
Before the grant
Rule 25-10 gives two groups a way to block a grant: people who must receive the Form P1 notice, and anyone claiming under a different will. Their tool is a notice of dispute in Form P29, filed before the grant issues, and each person gets one per estate. No grant can issue while it stands. Unless renewed by the court it lapses a year after filing, and a judge may strike it out where keeping it would not serve the estate’s best interests.
A will that leaves a spouse or child short
WESA section 60 lets a spouse or child of the will-maker ask the court to rewrite a will that does not adequately provide for them, and the judge may order whatever provision is “adequate, just and equitable”. The section sets no age limit for a child’s claim. The clock is in section 61: commence no later than 180 days from the BC grant, then serve the executor within 30 more days, a deadline the court may extend. Read more on a disinherited child, a disinherited spouse and the wills variation limitation period.
Whether the will stands at all
A challenge to validity can rest on lack of capacity, undue influence or a failure of the formal signing rules. Section 52 shifts the burden in pressure cases. If the challenger proves the other person had the potential to dominate the will-maker, or that the will-maker might depend on them, it falls to those upholding the will to prove the influence was not undue. Section 58 can work the other way, letting the court give effect to an imperfect document that records the deceased’s testamentary intentions, and section 59 allows a will to be rectified for a slip or a misunderstood instruction, generally within 180 days of the grant unless the court grants leave. See our pages on pressure on a will-maker and loss of capacity and on challenging whether a will or trust is valid.
The executor
Section 158 allows a person interested in the estate to apply to remove a personal representative, or to have the court pass over someone with a prior right to the office. Its list of grounds includes an executor who will not act, one who cannot manage their own affairs, and one whose silence or unwillingness gets in the way of efficient administration; our guides on challenging an executor and an executor who will not communicate go further.
Candace Cho, KC heads our estate litigation group. We represent beneficiaries, spouses or children disappointed by a will, and executors who must defend one. Other estate claims carry their own limitation periods, which vary with the claim, so take advice before probate is granted where possible. Estate litigation can be taken on an hourly rate or, at the lawyer’s discretion, on a contingency basis; the payments page explains both.
Planning your own estate
Our estate planning group, led by Sandy Minh Abley, prepares wills, trusts and incapacity documents for clients across the city.
- For the will itself, WESA section 37 requires writing, the will-maker’s signature at the end and two witnesses present at the same time; a will kept in electronic form also counts. Registering a wills notice ($17) records with Vital Statistics where the signed original is stored, and the will stays with you or your lawyer. File it online or by post, since the Vancouver Service BC office does not accept them. See wills and our estate planning checklist.
- For incapacity, an enduring power of attorney lets a person you choose handle money and legal matters, and a representation agreement deals with personal and health care. If neither exists when capacity is lost, relatives may have to seek committeeship in the Supreme Court.
- For trusts: a settlor aged 65 or older can set up an alter ego or joint partner trust under which only the settlor (or the settlor and their spouse) can benefit during their lifetime, and a disability trust can provide for a family member with a disability. Both appear in the service list below; each needs to be drafted alongside the will so that the two do not contradict each other.
Our estate lawyers
Judith A. Janzen and Candace Cho, KC, the principals, joined forces in 2012; Judith leads the family practice and Candace the estate litigation practice. On an estate file you will work with one or more of:
- Estate litigation: Candace Cho, KC, principal lawyer, with Valerie LeBlanc, Jackson Todd, Katya Richardson, Julia Pinnock, Kevin Campbell (who also speaks French), TJ Garcha (Punjabi), Louisa Ledesma (Tagalog and conversational Mandarin) and Jesse Patrao
- Probate and administration: Veronica Manski, associate counsel and practice leader
- Wills, trusts and incapacity planning: Sandy Minh Abley, who also speaks Vietnamese
Everyone at the firm is listed on the team page.
Common questions
Does a Vancouver estate have to be probated at the Smithe Street registry?
No. An applicant may use any Supreme Court registry in the province. Smithe Street is the nearest for city residents and has a probate desk, but the choice is yours, and it has to be settled before the Form P1 notices go out because they name the registry.
Who inherits if my parent died in Vancouver without a will?
The intestacy rules in Part 3 of WESA apply across BC. A surviving spouse takes a preferential share ($300,000, or $150,000 where a child is from another relationship) and half the rest; the children share the other half. With no spouse, the children take everything. Someone must still apply for a grant of administration.
Which office should I visit?
Either. Downtown is closer to the courts and the Canada Line; Kerrisdale is closer for the west side. Phone and video meetings can be arranged when you book.
Do you charge for a first meeting?
Not for the first half hour on an estate dispute, whether we meet in person, by phone or by video. For probate or will planning, ask what the first meeting costs when you call (604) 900-2538 or send a message from the contact page.
