BC Will Template

What a BC will is for

Without a will, your estate in British Columbia passes under the intestacy rules in the Wills, Estates and Succession Act (WESA), which divide it in fixed shares among your spouse and descendants, and the court appoints an administrator. A will lets you choose who manages your estate, who receives what, who will care for your young children, and when your children or grandchildren receive their share, instead of at 19 as the law would otherwise require.

This template is written for BC adults with straightforward estates. It revokes earlier wills, appoints an executor and an alternate, names a guardian for minor children, provides for debts and taxes, makes specific and cash gifts, deals with personal belongings, and leaves the residue to a spouse who survives by 30 days, then to children per stirpes, then to alternates. It holds shares for young beneficiaries in trust to an age you choose, gives your executor modern powers including over digital assets, and ends with an attestation clause built for WESA's witnessing rules. Signing instructions, wills notice details, an estate information page for your executor and notes on wills variation, separation and distribution timing complete it.

When to use it

Use it if you live in British Columbia, are 16 or older, and want to leave your estate to your spouse and children, or to other family members, friends and charities, without complex planning. It suits single people, couples, and parents of young children whose assets are mainly a home, bank and investment accounts, registered plans and personal property.

Get legal advice instead if you own a business or farm, have property outside BC, have a blended family with children from earlier relationships, want to leave out or give less to a spouse or child, have a beneficiary with a disability who receives benefits, or want to reduce probate fees or taxes with trusts. Spouses usually make separate, matching wills.

What's inside

The full list of sections and fields in this template, in the order they appear.

1. Appointments

   • Revocation of earlier wills
   • Executor and alternate
   • Guardian and alternate for minor children

2. Gifts

   • Debts
   • expenses and taxes
   • Specific gifts and cash gifts
   • Charitable gifts
   • Personal belongings and memorandum
   • Residue to spouse
   • children per stirpes
   • and alternates

3. Trusts and powers

   • Trust to a chosen age
   • Payments for minors
   • Executor's powers including digital assets
   • Compensation
   • Funeral wishes
   • Survival periods
   • Definitions

4. Signing and attestation

   • Will-maker's signature
   • Attestation clause
   • Two witnesses with names
   • addresses and occupations

5. Instructions and executor notes

   • Six signing steps
   • Electronic wills note
   • Wills notice information
   • Estate information for the executor
   • Wills variation
   • Separation
   • Distribution timing

Preview pages

How to complete the will

1. Enter your full legal name and city. Use the name on your government identification.
2. Choose your executor and alternate. Pick people who are organized and willing, and ask them first.
3. Name a guardian. If you have children under 19, name a guardian and an alternate.
4. List specific gifts. Describe items and cash gifts clearly, with full names of the people receiving them.
5. Set out the residue. Decide who receives the rest, and alternates if they do not survive you.
6. Choose the trust age. Pick the age at which young beneficiaries receive their share outright.
7. Delete what does not apply. Remove unused options and all grey notes.
8. Sign with two witnesses. Follow the signing instructions exactly.
9. Store it and tell your executor. Keep the original safe, file a wills notice and update the estate information page.

Example: a completed will excerpt

A fictional Kelowna resident with a spouse and two young children completes the will:

Executor: spouse, Jordan Lee; alternate, sister, Priya Lee of Vernon, BC. Guardian: sister, Priya Lee; alternate, close friend, Marcus Bell of Kelowna, BC. Specific gifts: grandmother's diamond ring to daughter, Ava Lee; $5,000 to the Kelowna General Hospital Foundation. Residue: to spouse if surviving by 30 days; otherwise to the two children in equal shares, held in trust until each turns 25.

The will-maker signs at a neighbour's kitchen table in front of two neighbours who receive nothing under the will, both present at the same time, and files a wills notice with Vital Statistics the following week.

BC rules to know

These are the British Columbia rules this will is built around.

• Capacity (WESA section 36). 16 or older and mentally capable.
• Formalities (section 37). In writing, signed at the end in the presence of two witnesses present at the same time, who sign in the will-maker's presence; electronic wills are also recognized.
• Witnesses (sections 40 and 43). 19 or older; gifts to a witness or the witness's spouse are void unless the court orders otherwise.
• Separation (section 56). Gifts to and appointments of a spouse are revoked on ceasing to be spouses, unless the will says otherwise.
• Curing defects (section 58). The court can give effect to a document that does not meet the formalities if it reflects the deceased's intentions.
• Wills variation (sections 60 and 61). Spouses and children can seek adequate provision within 180 days of the grant.
• Guardianship (Family Law Act section 53). A parent may appoint a guardian for a child by will.

Mistakes that cause problems in BC estates

The common problems are a beneficiary or their spouse acting as a witness, witnesses who were not present at the same time, handwritten changes after signing, no alternate executor or beneficiary, gifts to children that must be paid out at 19, forgetting that registered plans and joint property pass outside the will, leaving out a spouse or child without advice, and never telling the executor where the original is kept. Following the signing instructions and the executor notes avoids each of them.