Estate Administration Act

"administration" includes all letters of administration of the estates of deceased persons, whether with or without the will annexed, and whether granted for general, special or limited purposes;

(a) a person who is united to another person by a marriage that, although not a legal marriage, is valid by common law, or

(ii) been maintained by that other person for a period of not less than 2 years immediately before the other person's death;

"cultural property" has the same meaning as in paragraph 115 of the Nisga'a Government Chapter of the Nisga'a Final Agreement;

(a) when applied in relation to a person who died before June 1, 1921, personal estate, and

(b) when applied in relation to a person who died on or after that date, both personal estate and real estate;

"intestate" or "person dying intestate" means a person owning property dying without a will;

"matters and causes testamentary" includes all matters and causes relating to the grant and revocation of probate of wills or letters of administration;

"Nisga'a Final Agreement" has the same meaning as in the Nisga'a Final Agreement Act;

"Nisga'a Lisims Government" has the same meaning as in the Nisga'a Final Agreement; .

"proceedings" means a matter or proceeding had or taken within the meaning of section 110 whether according to its exact or intended form or not;

"testator" means the person making a will, whether the person is male or female;

"will" includes codicil and all testamentary instruments of which probate may be granted.

Section 6(1) BEFORE changes were made by 1999-26-5 effective November 1, 2000 (BC Reg 280/00).

6 (1) If a person dies intestate, or if the executor named in a will refuses to prove the will, the court may grant the administration of the estate of the deceased person

Section 11(2) BEFORE changes were made by 1999-26-6 effective November 1, 2000 (BC Reg 280/00).

(2) A creditor, next of kin or legatee may apply to the court for an order under subsection (3), on an affidavit setting out

(b) that delay is being caused in the administration of the estate of the testator or intestate, owing to the absence of the executor or administrator from British Columbia.

Section 39(1) BEFORE changes were made by 1999-26-7 effective November 1, 2000 (BC Reg 280/00).

(a) neglects or refuses to do an act in relation to the estate of a deceased person as administrator of it,

(b) neglects or refuses to do an act that, under this Act, the official administrator ought to do in relation to any estate, or

a person interested as a creditor, next of kin, legatee, heir at law, devisee or otherwise in the estate may apply to the court out of which the grant of administration issued, on affidavit without notice to any other party, for a summons calling on the official administrator to show cause before the court why the administrator should not do or abstain from doing the act.

Section 41(1) BEFORE changes were made by 1999-26-8 effective November 1, 2000 (BC Reg 280/00).

41 (1) The official administrator must make application for, and must be granted, administration of the estate of a deceased person if all the heirs and next of kin of the deceased person who are in British Columbia and are competent to take out letters of administration renounce or request that an administrator of the estate be appointed.

Section 67.1(3) BEFORE changes were made by 2000-9-11 effective March 2, 2001 (BC Reg 44/01).

(3) If net proceeds under subsection (2) are held in trust by the Public Guardian and Trustee and a beneficiary does not make a claim to those proceeds within the time period specified in the Unclaimed Money Act, the proceeds are deemed to be unclaimed money deposits under that Act.

Part 8 (section 76) BEFORE changes were made by 1999-26-9 effective November 1, 2000 (BC Reg 280/00).

Allowance for common law spouse

76 (1) If an intestate leaves a common law spouse surviving the intestate in British Columbia, the court may order that there be retained, allotted and applied for the support, maintenance and benefit of the common law spouse so much of the net real or personal estate, or both, of the intestate as the court sees fit, to be payable in the manner the court directs.

(2) An application to the court under this section may not be made unless it is commenced no later than 6 months after the date of the issue of letters of administration of the deceased's estate.

(3) An application under this section may be made by motion by the common law spouse or the administrator of the intestate's estate.

(4) If the intestate leaves a widow, widower or a child surviving the intestate, an order must not be made under subsection (1) until notice of the application has been given to

(a) the widow, widower or child, or a person acting as guardian or next friend in the case of a child who is a minor, and

(5) On the hearing of the application, the court may consider all the evidence that may be relevant in making an order under subsection (1).

Section 85.1 was added by 1999-29-10 effective November 1, 2000 (BC Reg 280/00).

Section 96 BEFORE changes were made by 2000-24-17 effective November 1, 2000 (BC Reg 280/00).

Matrimonial home and household furnishings to spouse

"household furnishings" means chattels usually associated with the enjoyment by the spouses of the matrimonial home;

(i) shown as a separate taxable parcel on a taxation roll for the current year prepared under the Taxation (Rural Area) Act, on a real property tax roll for the current year prepared by the collector of a municipality or on an assessment roll used for the levying of taxes in a municipality, and

(ii) has as improvements situated on it a building assessed and taxed in the current year as an improvement, in which the deceased and his or her spouse were ordinarily resident, owned or jointly owned by the deceased, and not leased to another person, or

(b) a share owned or jointly owned by the deceased in a corporation the memorandum of association of which provides that a building owned or operated by the corporation must be owned and operated exclusively for the benefit of shareholders in the corporation who are occupants of the building, if the value of the share is equivalent to the capital value of a suite owned by the corporation, in which suite the deceased and his or her spouse were ordinarily resident, and which was not leased to any other person.

(2) Despite section 95, and in addition to any other provision in this Part, but subject to section 98, in an intestacy,

(a) except where it would otherwise go under this Part to a surviving spouse, the matrimonial home devolves to and becomes vested in those persons by law beneficially entitled to it and, subject to the liability of the land comprising the matrimonial home for foreclosure or the payments of debts, those persons must hold the matrimonial home in trust for an estate for the life of the surviving spouse, or so long as the surviving spouse wishes to retain the estate for life, and

(3) This section applies to the estate of a person who dies on or after April 1, 1972.

Section 97 BEFORE changes were made by 2000-24-17 effective November 1, 2000 (BC Reg 280/00).

Contiguous land not incidental to matrimonial home

97 On application by any person who is entitled, but for section 96, to a share in the distribution of the matrimonial home, if it is shown that any land contiguous to the matrimonial home could not reasonably be regarded as contributing to the use and enjoyment of the matrimonial home as a residence, the court may decrease the size of the parcel of land that devolves to and becomes vested in those persons by law beneficially entitled to it under section 96.

Section 121 BEFORE changes were made by 1999-26-11 effective November 1, 2000 (BC Reg 280/00).

Wages payable to widow or widower

(a) earned by a worker during the period of 3 months before the worker's death, and

are, subject to this Part, payable to the widow or widower, if any, of the deceased worker, free from debts of the deceased.

Section 122 BEFORE changes were made by 1999-26-11 effective November 1, 2000 (BC Reg 280/00).

Wages not subject to administration

122 The wages of a deceased worker that are made payable to the widow or widower by this Part are not subject to the provisions of the laws relating to

(b) in case of the testacy of the deceased, to obtaining probate or to the provisions of the deceased's will.

Section 123 BEFORE changes were made by 1999-26-12 effective November 1, 2000 (BC Reg 280/00).

Evidence of entitlement

123 The widow or widower is entitled to those wages referred to in section 121 on production of an affidavit, sworn before a person authorized under the Evidence Act to administer an oath, stating that the person claiming to be the widow or widower of the deceased worker is in fact the deceased's widow or widower.

Section 124 BEFORE changes were made by 1999-26-13 effective November 1, 2000 (BC Reg 280/00).

Application by common law spouse

124 (1) Except as provided in section 122, section 76 applies to this Part, and for this purpose "widow or widower" in this Part includes a common law spouse.

(2) If application is made by a common law spouse, the affidavit required under section 123 must state that the person claiming is the common law spouse of the deceased and that there is no widow or widower.

Section 125 BEFORE changes were made by 1999-26-14 effective November 1, 2000 (BC Reg 280/00).

Discharge of employer

125 An employer who, in good faith and relying on an affidavit made under section 123, pays the wages of a deceased worker to a person purporting to be the widow, widower or common law spouse of the deceased is discharged from liability toward the deceased worker or the estate of the deceased worker to the extent of that payment.

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