Why Choose Us
Flat Fees
95% of our clients are charged predictable flat rates.
Specialization
We focus only on estate planning, probate and corporate law.
Respected
With awards won and hundreds of 5-star reviews, we’re well known for our top-quality advice and friendly service.
Charitable
We donate 1% of all revenue to charity.
Your Trusted North Vancouver Wills & Estates Firm
We focus mainly on estate planning and helping executors with probate applications and advice. Because we are each a wills lawyer and a probate lawyer, no matter which lawyer you choose here, you will get comprehensive advice no matter how complex your estate planning or probate situation is.
A probate lawyer in North Vancouver who you can trust
The experienced probate lawyers in the North Vancouver office of Westcoast Wills & Estates ease the burden on executors and estate administrators. The stresses of being an executor of a will can often be overwhelming. When you book with a probate lawyer at Westcoast’s North Vancouver location, you start with an initial consultation, where the estate lawyer educates executors about all the steps to take in estate administration. Following this first meeting, a probate lawyer can help as much or as little as needed with the probate application or otherwise. Our lawyers guide executors through the complexities of probate until the estate is wound up. If you are an executor who needs some guidance, give us a call and our experienced North Vancouver probate attorneys can help.
Questions about probating a will in North Vancouver or estate administration in North Vancouver? See our Probate FAQs.
Wills Lawyer in North Vancouver
With Westcoast Wills and Estates, an experienced wills lawyer in North Vancouver can help you develop a comprehensive estate plan customized to your situation at a reasonable cost. Typical plans include a Will, a Power of Attorney (for financial decisions) and a Representation Agreement (for personal and healthcare decisions). Our friendly wills lawyers also routinely prepare other documents for clients, such as an Advance Directive, Living Will, Joint Partner Trust or Alter Ego Trust, Beneficiary designation trust, Cohabitation Agreement, or a Marriage Agreement.
When working with our North Vancouver wills and estates lawyers, you can rest assured that your property will be distributed as you intended. A Wills and trusts lawyer will take your instructions, provide professional advice and draft a comprehensive Will that incorporates all of your wishes and includes appropriate trusts, while minimizing taxes payable by your estate.
Do you want to ask an estate planning lawyer in North Vancouver a question? Book in for a consultation, or read about the most common questions for our North Vancouver wills lawyers, including whether or not you need a will.
Committeeship lawyers in North Vancouver
Our committeeship lawyers in North Vancouver can apply to court on your behalf for an appointment of committee. This is most often required when a person becomes incapacitated and they have not already appointed someone else to handle their finances in a power of attorney. In this case, all assets in their name are effectively frozen, from bank accounts to real estate. If your loved one is in this situation, someone may need to be appointed as their committee of estate. There are a lot of ins and outs, so its best to call to have a consultation with one of our experienced North Vancouver committeeship lawyers before deciding what to do.
Corporate Lawyer in North Vancouver
A friendly North Vancouver corporate lawyer from Westcoast Wills & Estates can help with all steps in the life of a company.
- Incorporate a new company (either federal or provincial)
- Incorporate a professional corporation (medical corporations, law corporations, personal real estate corporations etc.)
- Tax planned corporate restructuring
- Roll over personal assets into a company
- File annual reports and prepare company resolutions
- Help with buying/selling/mergers of companies
- Winding up a company in a tax efficient manner
Tax Lawyer in North Vancouver
Our friendly tax lawyer in North Vancouver provides:
- Tax advice to individuals and corporations
- Pipeline transactions and loss carryback planning
- Estate freezes
- Family Trusts
- Notice of objection to reassessments from CRA
- Voluntary Disclosure Applications
Get a Free Quote
Our estate planning lawyers speak English, Cantonese, Mandarin, Punjabi and Hindi, and offer flexible appointment times to fit your schedule. We’re just a phone call away.
Get In TouchContact Us
Our estate planning lawyers speak English, Cantonese, and Vietnamese. Appointment times are available weekdays, both during the day and evening, to accommodate those with busy work schedules.
-
Head Office
308 – 1200 Lonsdale Avenue,
North Vancouver, BC V7M 3H6 -
Hours: By Appointment Only
- info@westcoastwills.com
- 1 (604) 230-1068
Follow Us:
Our Law Blog
Recent News and Insights
We share company news, helpful resources, and answers to common questions.
Probate Law FAQs
These are just some of the most common questions our firm gets about probate law.
Explore All Probate Law FAQsProbate means to “prove.” In the case of wills, it refers to the process of proving to the court that a will is legally valid as the last will and disclosing all of the assets in the estate. Oftentimes people loosely use the word “probate” to refer to the much broader process of estate administration though – only a part of which is applying for probate from the court. Estate administration ranges from arranging the funeral, preparing the probate application, filing taxes, paying other debts, distributing the estate, and dozens of steps in between.
Probate is handled by the Supreme Court of BC. The Vancouver Probate Registry currently has a roughly two month delay between the time an application is received and the time that they approve the application. In recent years, that delay has been as much as six months and as short as two weeks. Other court registries have different delay times, but dealing with a registry out of town has its own challenges. See here for a map of the different Supreme Court probate registries throughout the province: https://www.courts.gov.bc.ca/supreme_court/court_locations_and_contacts.aspx
Commonly, estates take anywhere from eight months to two years to wrap up. Frustratingly, a lot of this time is spent waiting for court processing times and tax clearance certificates. Estates with complex assets or disputes can take much longer to administer. Westcoast Wills helps executors navigate the system in the most time and cost-efficient manner.
Simply speaking, the probate fee is a tax charged by the court to approve a will, or in the case of an intestate’s estate, approve the administrator of the estate. In BC, the fee is currently roughly 1.4% of all the assets passing through the estate. We have a probate fee calculator here to help you approximate what the probate fee will be.
Wills FAQs
Our highly experienced legal team often hears these questions about wills and estate planning in BC.
Explore All Estate Planning FAQsA will is a document where you say who gets your assets when you die. A will can also name successor guardians for minor children and your preferences for funeral, burial or cremation. An estate planning lawyer in Vancouver can help you prepare a will.
A will is a basic document that everyone should have because it says what happens with your assets after you die.
Firstly, choose a lawyer who specializes in wills and possibly one other area of law. The phrase “Jack of all trades, master of none” definitely applies to law, as there are way too many intricacies with every area of law to keep on top of all of them. Wills law is routinely the area of practice with most negligence claims against lawyers because all to many lawyers (who do not focus on this area) do not appreciate the subtle complexities in estate planning.
Secondly, many law firm websites have a review section from previous clients. There are also independent review websites, such as Yelp, Google and Facebook. Westcoast Wills is proud to have so many happy clients and you can see our Google reviews and Facebook reviews.
When someone dies without a will in BC, their estate is said to be intestate. In BC, the distribution of an intestate estate is determined by the Wills, Estates and Succession Act (WESA). Here’s a general outline of how the distribution works:
Spouse or common-law partner: If the deceased person had a spouse or common-law partner but no children, that person is generally entitled to the entire estate.
Spouse or common-law partner and children: If the deceased person had a spouse or partner and children, generally, the spouse or partner receives a preferential share of the estate (currently set at $300,000), and the remainder is divided between the spouse or partner and the children. There are variations of this in the law, resulting in different distribution schemes for different circumstance. A probate lawyer in Vancouver can help you determine exactly where the estate will go.
Children but no spouse or common-law partner: If the deceased person had children but no spouse or partner, the estate is divided equally among the children.
No spouse, partner, or children: the laws dictate that the deceased’s estate will generally pass to the deceased person’s next of kin, using parentelic distribution, with some exceptions.
If no eligible relatives can be found, the estate is transferred to the provincial government.
In cases where there is no will, it is generally advisable to seek legal advice from a wills lawyer to understand the specific implications and process involved in administering the estate according to the intestacy laws in BC. An estate planning lawyer from Westcoast Wills & Estates can provide guidance and assistance in navigating the probate process.