Concerning Wills

[burnin_vernon]

I cannot seem to get anywhere on Google with this...

I need to know if wills are ruled federally or provincially.

More importantly, I would like to find a Wills Act (?) online for the province of Ontario (if laws vary by province).

I'll take a shot in the dark and tell a bit of the story on the off chance that anyone here has had a similar situation.

My dad's mother died and left a sum of cash to his sister but she died 4 days later. Now his niece is knocking on the door looking for the money that she assumes was entitled to her mom. BUT the will stated that if the death of her daughter happened before her own, the money would go to someone else.

We have heard that if a beneficiary dies up to 5 days after the deceased, they are considered predeceased for the purposes of a will. We just can't find this documented and would like to have a bit of knowledge before we meet with a lawyer.

It is a potentially very ugly situation. The niece is not a good person and spoke ill of her mother all her life. My dad's mother would be furious if she ever knew this girl got a cent of her money. The clause of my aunt predeceasing her was made for specifically that reason.

Neither my dad's sister nor his niece have any idea what was stated in the will.

[ken0042]

I would speak to Troutman; I think this is one of his areas of practice.

[valo403]

I don't think there's much need to search out the particular statute before meeting with a lawyer, this should be a pretty straightforward situation for them to deal with.

[Sliver]

In a will I was involved with it was 30 days.

[VladtheImpaler]

Standard will states that if a beneficiary dies within 30 days of the testator, he (or she) is deemed to have pre-deceased the testator. Therefore, I would presume that the niece is SOL. But, as already mentioned, consult a competent wills & estates lawyer.

[Antithesis]

I was about to say I thought it was 30 days as well, as outlined directly in a will Troutman wrote up for us. Though he's in Alberta (and I think different provinces have different ideas), he might be a really good person to consult on this. I'd assume that unless the neice can prove that the deceased was not in a proper state of mind when such a condition was attached to the will, that she is up the creek.

[mykalberta]

Again Alberta - of the wills I have had to sit in on it was 30 days.

Some US states have a 120 hour policy.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uniform...eous_Death_Act

[troutman]

I can't advise on Ontario law.

I think in Alberta the niece would be out of luck. Only a spouse or child can challenge a Will (assuming the testator had capacity, and there was no undue influence in the creation of the will).

Alberta statutes:

Wills Act:

http://www.qp.alberta.ca/574.cfm?pag...cln=0779726898

Dependants Relief Act:

http://www.qp.alberta.ca/574.cfm?pag...=9780779721511

Adminstration Of Estates Act:

http://www.qp.alberta.ca/574.cfm?pag...=9780779734900

[Titan]

Originally Posted by fotze

Tell the niece to go suck on a pair of testatorcles.

Hey. I see what you did there!! Nice.

[Titan]

I would recommend this but I see the cheap sobs are charging $6 per call.

http://www.lsuc.on.ca/public/a/faqs-...erral-service/

Google the town/city in ontario with the words "wills estates lawyer" get some numbers and call them up. Lawyers can't provide advice outside of their province of membership except in very specific circumstances which don't apply here.

In the alternative, the will itself, if prepared by a lawyer, will have the lawyers name phone number on it. Call that person directly and they can either help or direct you to someone they know and/or trust.