People live their lives collecting items and making investments. What happens to their assets and debts after their death? When you own a property, it is normal to think who will own it after you are no more. What happens if there is no will? Will the living spouse be inheriting all of it and what is inheritance tax?

How does inheritance work in Canada?

Canada is a diverse nation and there are no one-size-fits-all inheritance law provisions applied to its citizens. There are multiple ways of handling the inheritance law and these vary provincially. Hence, it becomes extremely important to know what are the different laws and rules in your particular jurisdiction. Inheritance is the act of asset distribution when somebody passes away. It mostly goes in two ways. The deceased individual might be having a legal and valid will, according to which, the estate will be distributed among the beneficiaries as mentioned. On the other hand, if the situation is stressful and the individual has died without a will, it will be deemed intestate. The estate left back will then be dealt with based only on the provincial rules.

Does the spouse automatically inherit what is left back?

The will has everything specified in it if the spouse will be inheriting everything or everything will go to the descendants of the deceased. If there are no descendants, and the individual didn’t have a will in the first place, the spouse will be inheriting everything or the next of kin. The matrimonial home, will, however, be inherited by the spouse. But this law also varies provincially.

Who will inherit when there is no will?

When an individual dies without leaving behind a will, it is called intestate. If someone has died in an intestate condition, in that case, the government will take over and go by the provincial laws to decide how to distribute the estate. A person will be appointed to handle everything.

Since the laws are different in every province, the final decisions as per the provincial laws might differ from what your final wishes were.

Matters like will, inheritance, estate, trust etc are very complex and need an expert mind. This is where hiring an estate lawyer can be highly beneficial. In this regard, Litvack Dessureault estate law can help you with all your inheritance planning and estate distribution, making you less worried about who will own your assets after you.