Estate Planning

What Happens When You Don't Formally Accept Your Interest in an Estate?

By Hull & Hull LLP

In a recent Superior Court of Quebec decision a family’s patriarch, Leon, died intestate in 1968.  The main asset of his estate was his home (registered in Leon’s name) where he resided with his wife and son, Walter.  At law Leon’s wife was entitled to 1/3 of the home, and Walter was entitled to 2/3 of the home.  Following Leon’s death, his wife and son continued to live in the home and dealt with it as their own property.

Leon’s wife died intestate in 1983.  Her sole heir was Walter.  The home remained registered in Leon’s name, but Walter continued to live there and dealt with it as his own property.

Walter disappeared after 1992, and in 2004 was declared dead.  Walter’s maternal and paternal cousins began fighting over Walter’s estate.  While all the cousins agreed they were equal beneficiaries of Walter’s estate, the argument of the maternal cousins was that they were beneficiaries of his mother’s estate (including her interest in the home), since she died intestate and Walter had never formally accepted her estate.

After applying various provisions of the Quebec Civil Code, the Court held that Walter, by being an absentee, was deemed to have accepted his mother’s estate because an absentee can only renounce through his representative. 

This case reveals an interesting distinction between Quebec and Ontario legislation, the latter of which does not impose any obligation to accept or reject one’s interest in an estate.

Until tomorrow,

Natalia

Full post as published by Toronto Estate Law Blog on March 19, 2008 (boomark / email).