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Can I Inherit Debt?

The short answer is, no.

It is a common misconception that when a person dies, that person’s family inherits his or her debt. Beneficiaries are relieved to hear that this is not the case; generally speaking, you do not “inherit” debt unless you previously accepted responsibility for it.

So, what does happen to debt when a person dies?

The answer to this question depends on who owes the debt, who the debt is owed to, and whether there is any money in the Estate to pay those debts.

A person’s “Estate” is all of the property that person owns, in...

“...in this world nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes.”

We can thank Benjamin Franklin for popularising this rather depressing quip. It is hard to argue with though.

In British Columbia, these certainties occur together through a type of estate tax known as a probate fee. This probate fee is effectively about 1.4% of the value of your estate. That’s not much until you consider the value in real estate some elderly British Columbians own, which will pass through their estate. You pass away, and this probate fee of 1.4% on...

It is sad but true: disagreements between family members can and often do arise. They typically fester, simmering just beneath the surface, for years. All it takes is the right trigger to make them rise to the surface with vigor. As an estate lawyer, I’ve seen it time and again and a family member getting sick or dying frequently acts as that trigger. There are ways to reduce this risk, but a surprising number of people fail to take them.

Estate fights are emotional and difficult to resolve for one simple reason; The most important person...

If you live in a condo, townhouse, or other strata property, or if you’re thinking of buying one, you may want to get familiar with the term ‘special levy’. A special levy is money collected from strata lot owners for a specific purpose and for a common expense.  They are often collected when a large or unexpected repair is required and there isn’t enough money in the contingency reserve fund (the ‘savings account’) to pay for it.

A special levy must be approved by a 3/4 vote resolution of the strata corporation as owners.  

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One of the values that our firm prides itself on is giving back to the community, something we do in a number of different ways. One example of our community commitment is our participation in the Partners for Life program at Canadian Blood Services, a voluntary program for organizations and businesses to donate blood. By getting together by organization, we rally each other to donate, thus increasing our overall contribution to the shortage of blood donors in Canada.

In early March, I attended an appreciation luncheon for the participants of this program. While I am one...

This February, I had the honour of being named “Mama of the Month” by the non-profit organization Mamas for Mamas. Mamas for Mamas is a local organization dedicated to providing ongoing support to low income mothers who are struggling with poverty and marginalization, including the often overlooked “working poor”.

So, what did I do to have been bestowed this great honour? I am the Mamas for Mamas lawyer, and do so on a pro bono basis. I,...