In Alberta, divorce has no effect on a will made during marriage. If a person has made a will that leaves everything to their spouse, the will is not automatically revoked or otherwise affected by a subsequent divorce. If the person who made the will dies without changing their will or remarrying, everything would go to their former spouse in accordance with the pre-divorce will. In many Canadian and foreign jurisdictions the result would be [...]
This report aims to amend Alberta's outdated Surrogate Rules, which govern the procedure for the administration of an estate. A complicated, detailed endeavour, it was completed in partnership with the Surrogate Rules Committee, and focused solely on the procedural statutory provisions involved. Substantive provisions are examined in another project now underway. Some recommendations are: That one court have carriage of all applications dealing with the administration of a given estate so that courtroom efficiency is [...]
Section 2 of the Survival of Actions Act (SAA) provides that a "cause of action vested in a person survives for the benefit of his estate." Section 5 of the SAA specifies that "only those damages that resulted in actual financial loss to the deceased or his estate are recoverable." In Duncan Estate v Baddeley, the Alberta Court of Appeal ruled that the loss of a chance of future earnings was an actual financial loss. This report recommends the SAA be amended [...]
The current scheme for intestate succession is patterned after legislation created in 1670. The report aims to reform the Intestate Succession Act in a manner more in line with the modern presumed intention of intestates, which has been gleaned through an examination of various studies. This report recommends that if an intestate died leaving a surviving spouse and issue, and all of the issue were of the surviving spouse, the entire estate should go to the surviving [...]
If the instrument that creates a trust does not expressly define the trustee's powers, section 5 of the Trustee Act defines them. Known as the "legal list", section 5 states which type of investments a trustee may purchase. The list of permitted investments aims to minimize risk. Many Commonwealth jurisdictions are replacing the legal list concept with the prudent investor approach, and a description of this evolution is included in Chapter 2. The prudent investor method encourages [...]
This report addresses the underlying conflict between the principles of matrimonial property law and succession law that causes unfair results for a surviving spouse who under the existing law does not have a cause of action under the Matrimonial Property Act. The surviving spouse of a marriage terminated by death should not have fewer remedies than the spouse in a marriage terminated by divorce. The contribution of a spouse to a marriage should be recognized either [...]
This report recommends that Alberta courts be given power to admit to probate a will or an alteration, revocation or revival of a will that does not comply with the formalities prescribed by the Wills Act. This "dispensing power" could only be exercised if a court is satisfied by clear and convincing evidence that the testator intended to adopt the document as a will, alteration, revocation or revival. The only formal requirement that could not be [...]
A trustee under the Dependent Adults Act of Alberta handles some or all of the financial affairs of a dependent adult, depending on the terms of the trusteeship order. An individual cannot be appointed a trustee under the Dependent Adults Act unless the individual is a resident of Alberta. The Act's prohibition of non-resident trustees creates significant practical difficulties if the only suitable or most suitable potential trustee is a non-resident or if an Alberta trustee is appointed and [...]
We have also taken the information contained in Appendix A and organized it in an alternative format according to broad subject area. For those who might be interested, the document is found here.
This report advocates the consolidation of Alberta's core succession statutes into one Act. A single piece of consolidated legislation covering all the essentials of statutory succession law would be a convenient reference tool for use by both practitioners and the public. The consolidated legislation will promote accessibility and ease of use of our statutory succession law. This report contains detailed research that identifies all succession-related statutes and statutory provisions and identifies Alberta legislation that is [...]
