All of you with questions will be pleased to know that I am in the middle of preparing a comprehensive, easy-to-understand Alberta Probate and Administration Kit that will be published by Self-Counsel Press in early 2011. That should give folks access to plenty of answers all in one place. And if you still have questions while using your kit, you know you can find me right here to talk about it.
If anyone is in the middle of administering anestate and is completely overwhelmed by it to the point where you simply want someone to take over for you, please contact me (I won't post your information publicly). If the estate is too much for you to handle, I can arrange for you to meet one of the trust officers I work with to take it off your hands. And not just here in my home city - I can arrange this for you right across Canada.
Self-Counsel Press already has probate kits for BC and Ontario. Below are links where you can purchase the kits, or simply learn more about them.
BC Probate and Administration Kit
Ontario Probate Kit
Any specific suggestions from a consumer point of view on what you'd like to see in the Alberta kit?
When will the probate kit for Alberta be available? I used your probate kit for BC when I was doing my mothers will and found it to be extremely usefull. By doing my mothers probate myself I saved the estate a lot of money.
ReplyDeleteI'm glad to hear it went well using the probate kit. It really helps to have one resource with everything you need. I can't give you an exact month of availability for the Alberta kit, as ultimately that decision lies with the publisher, but I do know that it will be in early 2011.
ReplyDeleteHi Lynne,
ReplyDeleteI have embarked on the road to DIY probate using the materials included in the Alberta Surrogate Court kit. My first application was returned, due in part to a couple of oversights on my part, but also for reasons not explained anywhere that I could find, which I found incredibly frustrating.
As both inheritor and executor I did not realize that not only did I have to fill out forms NC 19 and 20 for myself to notify myself that I am a beneficiary, I also had to write and sign an acknowledgement that I had received those forms. I was not given the proper wording for the acknowledgement and am now worried that if I don't do it correctly my next submission will also be returned.
Since the application and pickup of materials must be done in person it gets to be time consuming and frustrating. I think it is really pitiful that the province provides a kit that is supposed to let the average Joe file for grant of probate, but does not give us the tools to do so. I hope your book will cover this. I have appreciated reading your website which is easy to navigate and very well written.
Lynne: I have again ran into a brick wall. Ex common law wife 2 days after he passed away changed the title and ownership on the house as he had been trying for 8 years to get her off of the house but she wanted a zillion dollars and house was only worth 145,000. She had only lived with him for 6 months before she took off with another guy and left all the kids with him. 2 were not his and 2 were his. He had 2 other pieces of property, one with a trailer on it and one with nothing. The trailer she lived in for their 14 year relationship. His name is the only one of these two pieces of property. The kids got a lawyer and she has a lawyer. The estate lawyer and myself right now are not sure to just give them everything as she has put caveat on both pieces of property and won't let me sell them and the kids are with their mom, as they won't talk to me since their dad passed away. She has promised them if they stay with her that she will put title on everything in all the kids names. The kids are the only beneficiaries, not the ex at all. Can she do this? So they just don't get and no one can change their minds. I am not sure anymore what to do. Would there be a will if she does this and the kids never answer the lawyer they hired anymore. Should I go to court an allow a judge to settle all of this. It is such a mess and would like to walk away but I promised my partner 5 years ago that I would be the executor. Also I have had to invest 25,000 since he passed away on this estate to keep it going. So short story, ex has told kids that she will kill herself if they even talk to me, as ex thinks I get everything. They have not even read the will yet, as the lawyer they hired lives 4 hours from their home town, as they can't get a local lawyer as their mom has used every lawyer in our home town. Every lawyer in our home town has caveat also on the house. The kids don't care what the will says as they think that their dad would want them to side with their mom. So as I stated a mess and not sure what to do,very stressful right now. I hope all this makes sense. Thanks so much
ReplyDeletein ontario can the executors with the beneficiaries written consent sell the family home to a beneficiary at a less than market value and would the probate fee be calculated on selling price or market value. the selling price would be approximately 20% lower
ReplyDeleteYes, with the written consent of the residuary beneficiaries, this can be done.
DeleteKeep in mind that an executor is liable for any financial loss to an estate. Hopefully the beneficiaries will remember when the time comes for your accounting that they actually agreed to this and won't try to hang you for it.
The probate fee is calculated on the market value, which should have been done at the beginning of the estate, even if the property ends up being sold for less.
As for how Canada Revenue Agency might view this sale, that's something you might run by an accountant.
Lynne