What Happens If Someone Dies Without a Will in BC?

If the person left assets in their own name, such as real estate or bank accounts, the family should choose someone to apply to court for a grant of administration. That administrator deals with taxes, sells assets and pays out the estate. With no will, the Wills, Estates and Succession Act decides who inherits; for example, a spouse with no children inherits the estate.

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• Dying Without a Will in BC

Full transcript

So what happens if someone in my family dies without a will in BC? Well, first of all, it’s not uncommon for someone to die without a will. When that happens, family members should get together and find out if they, in fact, need to do anything. If the individual who passed away doesn’t really own any assets, there might not be a reason to worry about whether or not there’s a will. But if the person does have assets that have to be dealt with, for example, real estate, a bank account, or an investment account, no one can deal with it because those properties are being held in that individual’s name and they are no longer alive. In which case, family members should elect someone who is good with paperwork, good with money, running around doing things like going to the accountant and filing tax returns.

That trusted individual should be named the administrator of the estate. And then that person will take the steps necessary to get a grant of administration from the court so that they can be now the new person legally responsible for dealing with the assets. And that will include eventually paying taxes if any and selling assets and perhaps distributing some of that assets to the beneficiaries. Because there is no will, the beneficiaries will be determined by the law, our legislation, and for example, if someone had a spouse and they died without a will, with no children, then the legislation states that the spouse will inherit the estate.

General information, not legal advice.