In this guide, you will find information, resources and links about wills, estates and trusts. This includes some of the following subjects:
- Estates
- Estate litigation
- Personal directives
- Powers of attorney
- Probate
- Trusts
- Wills
Texts
General
- Alberta wills & estates legislation by Anne De Villars Table of Contents
- Alberta wills and estates practice manual by Legal Education Society of Alberta Table of Contents
- Estate Litigation, 2nd by Brian Schnurr Table of Contents
- Estate Planner’s Handbook, 5th ed. by Robert Spenceley Table of Contents
- Estate Planning for the Blended Family by L. Paul Hood Jr. & Emily Bouchard Table of Contents
- Legal Research Guide to Wills & Succession by Eric Appleby Table of Contents
- Mediating Estate Disputes by Susan Easterbrook & Francine Herlehy Table of Contents
- New Estate Administration Act by Legal Education Society of Alberta Table of Contents
- Wills Fundamentals by Legal Education Society of Alberta Table of Contents
- You Can’t Take it With You : Common-Sense Estate Planning for Canadians, 5th ed. by Sandra Foster Table of Contents
Forms and Precedents
- Alberta law conference 2013 [unpublished papers] by Canadian Bar Association Table of Contents (Contains filled out sample probate precedents)
- Alberta probate kit by Lynne Butler Table of Contents
- Alberta surrogate forms by Legal Education Society of Alberta Table of Contents (Includes CD of fillable forms)
- Alberta wills and estates practice manual by Legal Education Society of Alberta Table of Contents
- Canadian Forms & Precedents : Wills & Estates, 2nd ed. by Margaret Rintoul Table of Contents (Also available through Quicklaw)
- Drafting personal directives and enduring powers of attorney by Legal Education Society of Alberta Table of Contents
- Drafting trusts & will trusts in Canada, 4th ed.by James Kessler & Fiona Hunter Table of Contents
- Drafting wills in Canada : a lawyer’s practical guide, 2nd ed.by Robyn Solnik & Mary-Alice Thompson Table of Contents
- Drafting your First Will by Legal Education Society of Alberta Table of Contents
- Estate planning precedents: a solicitor’s manual by Lindsay Histrop Table of Contents
- Living Wills Kit, 2nd ed. by Tom Carter Table of Contents
- O’Brien’s encyclopedia of forms, 11th ed. by John Honsberger Div. 5 Wills & Trusts
- Power of Attorney Kit, 10th ed. by Stephen Georgas Table of Contents
- Preparation of wills and powers of attorney : first interview to final report, 4th ed.by Mary MacGregor Table of Contents
- Tax Planned Will Precedents, 4th ed. by Alison Scott Butler Table of Contents
- Write your Legal Will in 3 Easy Steps, 3rd ed.by Tom Carter Table of Contents
Executors & Administrators
- Executor’s handbook, 5th ed. by Jennifer Greenan Table of Contents
- How Executors Avoid Personal Liability: a handbook for executors and beneficiaries by Lynn Butler Table of Contents
- So you’ve been appointed executor, 3rd ed. by Tom Carter Table of Contents
- Widdifield on executors and trustees, 6th ed. by Carmen Theriault Table of Contents
- Williams, Mortimer and Sunnucks on executors, administrators and probate, 21st ed. by Edward Williams, Herbert Mortimer, and J.H.G. Sunnucks Table of Contents
Powers of Attorney
- Drafting personal directives and enduring powers of attorney by Legal Education Society of Alberta Table of Contents
- Powers of attorney and capacity practice and procedure by Jasmine Sweatman Table of Contents
- Enduring powers of attorney and personal directives by Legal Education Society of Alberta Table of Contents
- Preparation of wills and powers of attorney : first interview to final report, 4th ed. by Mary MacGregor Table of Contents – includes CD
Trusts
- Constructive trust claims by Legal Education Society of Alberta Table of Contents
- Drafting trusts & will trusts in Canada, 4th ed. by James Kessler & Fiona Hunter Table of Contents – includes CD
- Drafting your first trust by Legal Education Society of Alberta Table of Contents
- Law of trusts, 3rd ed. by Eileen Gillese Table of Contents – Also available as an e-text
- Lewin on Trusts, 19th ed. by Lynton Tucker, Nicholas Le Poidevin, James Brightwall Table of Contents
- Oosterhoff on trusts : text, commentary and materials, 8th ed. by A.H. Oosterhoff Table of Contents
- Snell’s Equity, 33rd ed. by John McGee Table of Contents
- Trusts in Common-law Canada, 2nd ed. by Dennis Pavlich Table of Contents
- Waters’ law of trusts in Canada, 4th ed. by Donovan Waters Table of Contents
Wills
- 48th annual refresher course, wills & estates : Lake Louise, Alberta by Legal Education Society of Alberta Table of Contents
- Challenging the validity of wills by Ian Hull Table of Contents
- Drafting wills in Canada : a lawyer’s practical guide, 2nd ed. by Robin Solnik Table of Contents
- Drafting your First Will by Legal Education Society of Alberta Table of Contents
- Feeney’s Canadian Law of Wills, 4th ed. by James MacKenzie Table of Contents
- Mistakes in wills in Canada by Stanley Sokol Table of Contents
- Oosterhoff on wills, 8th ed. by A.H. Oosterhoff Table of Contents
- Preparation of wills and powers of attorney : first interview to final report, 4th ed. by Mary MacGregor Table of Contents – includes CD
- Williams on wills, 10th ed. by C.H. Sherrin Table of Contents
- Wills and Estates, 4th ed. by Derek Fazakas Table of Contents
Case Law
For more information on finding cases see our research guide: Finding & Researching Cases
Legislation
Provincial
- Adult Guardianship and Trusteeship Act, SA 2008 c. A-2
- Adult Guardianship and Trusteeship (Ministerial) Regulation, Alta Reg 224/2009
- Adult Guardianship and Trusteeship Regulation, Alta Reg 219/2009
- Dower Act, RSA 2000, c D-15
- Forms Regulation, Alta. Reg. 39/2000
- Estate Administration Act, SA 2014 c E12.5
- Human Tissue and Organ Donation Act, SA 2006, c H-14.5
- Human Tissue and Organ Donation Regulation, Alta Reg 196/2009
- Personal Directives Act, RSA 2000, c P-6
- Personal Directives (Ministerial) Regulation, Alta Reg 26/1998
- Powers of Attorney Act, RSA 2000, P-20
- Public Trustee Act, SA 2004, c P-44.1
- Surrogate Rules, Alta Reg 130/1995
- Trustee Act, RSA 2000, c T-8
- Wills and Succession Act, SA 2010, c W-12.2
- International Wills Registration System Regulation, Alta Reg 8/2012
The links above connect to the Canadian Legal Information Institute (CanLII) version for convenience and ease of use. To access or purchase the official version, go to: Alberta Queen’s Printer
Uniform Acts
- Wills – Uniform Law Conference of Canada
Definitions
Attestation : Witnessing a written instrument and signing it as a witness. 1
Codicil : A written document that makes a change or an addition to the will. It is executed by the testator, in accordance with the same formalities as a will. 2
Holograph Will : A will written completely in the handwriting of the person making it, having no witnesses to the signature of the testator.3
Intervivos Trust : A trust other than a testamentary trust. Created by writing a deed or oral declaration, a trust which is to take effect during the lifetime of the trust’s creator. 1
Letters Probate – see “Probate”
Living Will : also referred to as personal directive. An instrument, signed with the formalities statutorily required for a will, by which a person directs that his or her life not be artificially prolonged by extraordinary measures when there is no reasonable expectation of recovery from extreme physical or mental disability. 4
Personal Directive – according to the Personal Directives Act (RSA 2000, c P-6, s 7) “A personal directive may contain information and instructions respecting any personal matter” – while some examples are set out in the Act, the list is not exhaustive. There are certain requirements that must be met in order to qualify as a personal directive such as being in writing, being dated, signed and witnessed in accordance with the statute.
Probate – A short defnition which captures the common usage is from the Shorter Oxford Dictionary: “To … prove (a will).” 5 The term has become a term of procedure describing the outcome of the court process wherein Letters Probate are granted verifying that a will has been proven. In Alberta currently, the Rules of Court provide that an application for a grant of probate may be made (Surrogate Rule 10(1) (a)(i)) and the term Letters Probate is not used. 6
Testamentary Trust: A trust that arises upon and in consequence of the death of an individual. 1
Testate: The act of dying with a will. 2
- Daphne Dukelow, The Dictionary of Canadian Law 4th ed. (Toronto: Carswell, 2011)
- Jennifer Greenan, The Executor’s Handbook 3rd ed. (Toronto: CCH, 2007)
- Cheryl Gotslieb, Wills for Alberta (North Vancouver : Self-Counsel Press, 1998)
- Black’s Law Dictionary 9th ed. (St. Paul, Minnisota : West, 2009)
- Little, W., Fowler, H.W. & Coulson, J., Shorter Oxford English Dictionary 3d ed. (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1973)
- Alberta Rules of Court, Surrogate Rules, Alberta Regulation 130/95 as amended, Court of Queen’s Bench Act
Journals
- Estates, trusts & pensions journal (Est Tr & Pensions J)
Formally Estates and trusts journal and Estates and trusts quarterly
Related Journal Articles
- “Bad News for Testamentary, Spousal Trusts” by Mary Anne Loney, (2015) 34:42 Lawyers Weekly 12
- “Ignoring digital assets in estate plans puts clients at risk”, (2017) 36:38 Lawyers Weekly 6
- “Stepchildren out in the Cold After Failed Appeal ” by Ann Macaulay, (2015) 35:24 Lawyers Weekly 3
- “The Liability of the Executor in Estates” by Anthea Stevenson, (June 2014) 112 Barrister
- The Estate Administration Act the Law has Changed by Sherrilynn Kelly,(2015) 40:2 Law Now
- Legacy Planning : Wills and Estates, (2017) 42:1 Law Now
Websites
Alberta
- Alberta Courts -Frequently asked questions about wills and estates
- Alberta Human Services – Forms – Guardianship, trusteeship and personal directives
- Alberta Human Services – Office of the public guardian & trustee (OPGT)
- Alberta Justice and Solicitor General – Wills
- Dial-A-Law 1-800-332-1091
- Older Adults Knowledge Network (Oaknet)
- Service Alberta – Death and vital statistics information
Federal
- Canadian Bar Association – National Wills Estates and Trusts Section
- Canada Revenue Agency – Forms for executors and administrators
Online Documents
- Adult Guardianship and Trusteeship Act
- Alberta Human Services – Forms – Guardianship, trusteeship and personal directives
- Being an agent
- Being an attorney
- Being a Personal Representative
- Enduring power of attorney
- Guide to capacity assessment under the personal directives act
- History and description of the public trustee
- Making a personal directive
- Making a power of attorney
- Making a will
- Personal directives choosing now for the future
- Personal directive registry
- Planning your own funeral
- Preparing a will
- Public trustee as the representative of a deceased person’s estate
- Understanding personal directives
- What to do when someone has died
- Wills Personal Directives Powers of Attorney
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