Recently the strange case of a missing
Will came to my attention. The story goes like this. A rector visits an elderly
parishioner and is informed that she has a Will and has bequeathed half her
estate to her parish. The other half was designated to a local hospital
foundation. The rector expresses her appreciation to the lady and leaves.
Shortly afterwards, the lady who has
no children develops symptoms of dementia and a care giver is required. About a
year later, the lady passes and the priest is curious to find out the value of
the bequest to her parish. Upon investigation, she learns that there is no
will. At least, if there were one, it has disappeared.
What happens now?
The law in this province is quite
clear about this. If a person dies without a will, then it is said that the
estate is placed in intestacy. That means, according to the Public Legal
Information Association of Newfoundland and Labrador:
In that
case, their estate will be distributed according to the Newfoundland and
Labrador Intestate Succession Act, which might be different from what they
wanted had they made their own will.
This lady had no siblings and no children so what
happens to the estate? Well, the Estate Succession Act makes this ruling:
Where
an intestate dies leaving no spouse, issue, father, mother, brother or sister,
the estate of the intestate shall go to the nephews and nieces of the intestate
in equal shares and in no case shall representation be admitted.
And, I
might add, there was no charitable gift provided for in this case.
Are there any lessons to be learned here? I asked
my legal friend who suggested a number of ways that can prevent such occurrences.
When your will is drawn up by a lawyer, he or she will generally suggest that
the original Will stay with the law firm for safe keeping. Another would be to
provide the executor or the charity with a copy of the will. This ensures that
the executor and the charity are aware of the bequest and could make
representation to the courts upon the person’s passing. Still another way would
be complete A Personal Records Organizer put out by banks and financial
organizations which details information about your estate and where your will
is kept. This could be held by the Executor or a trusted friend.
But who knows? Maybe there was no Will in the first
place. However, according to my legal friend, this happens more often you think.
He said the suggestions made in the previous paragraph are quite legitimate and
would prevent fair bit of agony and confusion in the future.
As the late Canon Burt Cheeseman use to say at the
end of a sermon, “There, that’s something to think about.”
Kevin
Smith is a gift planning consultant with the Anglican Church of Canada. He can
be contacted at (709) 739-5667 or by email: kevinsmith709@gmail.com.
