How important Wills in Real Estate

Wills

A Last Will and Testament (a “Will”) is a document that governs the distribution of a person’s wealth after they die. It has no effect while a person is alive and can be changed anytime (provided a person has legal capacity to do so). It is more complicated than this, but at its base, a Will essentially names someone who will oversee a deceased persons assets and instructs them how to distribute these assets when they die. After death, a deceased person’s Will is likely filed with the court along with an inventory of all their assets. The court grants authority on the Will and “Probate” is grated to the person who is named in the will to be in charge (the “Trustee” or “Executor”). The Executor then distributes the assets according to the deceased’s instructions written in the Will. It may strike you that this topic has little to do with real estate, but it does. Land is often the most valuable thing people own. A percentage of land transactions are brought about by death or in contemplation of death. Land in joint title transfers automatically to the survivors on title, this land does not go into the inventory of the estate and the Will has nothing to do with it, however if the land is in the name of the deceased person alone, the will must be probated before the land can transfer. As of late, changes to the probate process has made the probate process far longer than it was before, so sales are being held up for longer on estate sales. People do not always understand these details and the connection of land and death. You will come across people who want to transfer land to pre-empt the consequences on death; be careful of this, there are differences depending on what they want to do. We speak to every client about the importance planning these things out and having a Will, as a real estate agent or broker they will look to you for advice as well.

 

GORD STEEVES​​​​

B.A., LL.B.

Barrister, Solicitor and Notary Public

200‑600 St. Anne's Road ​WINNIPEG, MB., R2M 2S2

Direct Tel: 431.478.1280

Tel: 204.254.3511

Fax: 204.257.5139

Email: gord@avdkslaw.ca

Web: www.avslaw.ca

Stephen Olyniuk

Alicia Olyniuk

Team Olyniuk

Re/Max Performance Realty

942 St Mary's Rd, Winnipeg, MB R2M 3R5

stephen@teamolyniuk.com alicia@teamolyniuk.com Stephen direct (204)981-2009 Alicia direct (204)392-4262 https://www.teamolyniuk.com/ Turning Realty into Reality #EstatePlanning101 #ProbateInsights #LandLegacy #WillAndRealEstate #ExecutorGuidance #InheritanceRealities #InheritanceRealities #LegacyAssets #LandTransferAfterDeath #RealEstateExecutor #WillPreparation #EstateSalesTips #ProbateLawInsights #RealEstateLegacy #PlanningForTheFuture #ProbateChanges #LandOwnershipAfterDeath #InheritedProperty #ExecutorResponsibilities #EstateAssets