Does an incarcerated person forfeit his or her inheritance?

Executors of estates can easily get bogged down whenever there is a beneficiary named in the Will who is in an unusual or unexpected situation. One of the situations in which it isn't always obvious how an executor should proceed is that of one of the beneficiaries of the estate being in jail. For the sake of this post, let's assume that the beneficiary in question is going to be in prison for many years to come.

If the person is incarcerated, is he going to forfeit his inheritance?

No, he or she is not going to lose the inheritance just because of the fact that he or she is prison. If the Will says that no beneficiary who is incarcerated shall inherit, then the answer is different.

In some provinces, there is a requirement that an executor who is applying for probate of a Will must give notice in writing to each beneficiary of the estate. If a person is incarcerated, he or she still has to be sent a notice in the same way that any other beneficiary would be notified.