Some people think there is no point in making a Will. “My spouse gets everything anyway” is a common refrain. But there are two problems with this reasoning:
- If you don’t own all your property jointly with your spouse, he or she may have to make a long and costly application to get it transferred
- Your spouse may die before you do. So what will happen to your property when you die?
If you don’t have a Will, guess who decides who gets your property? The government.
Most provinces have rules about what happens to a person’s estate when he or she dies without a Will. In Ontario, for instance, if a man dies without a Will, the first $200,000 of his estate goes to his married spouse (not including common-law spouses). The balance of the estate is shared among his spouse and children (depending on the number of children).
So imagine this scenario:
A man dies without a Will, leaving a spouse and two children, and an estate worth $500,000.
- His spouse will receive only $300,000 ($200,000 + 1/3 of balance).
- If his children are minors, their share will be held in trust until they reach adulthood
But what if the man wanted all of his estate to go to his spouse?
