Imagine you’ve gone through gone through the steps to prepare your estate plan. You’ve spoken with a lawyer and had a will prepared, designated beneficiaries where applicable, maybe set up a trust for any number of reasons. Now, the for the million dollar question ($1.9  million to be exact) – have you told anyone you have a will? Your executors, beneficiaries?

In British Columbia, the BC Unclaimed Property Society states there are approximately $177 million in unclaimed  assets, which includes a recent $1.9 million dollar estate.

While this may surprise some, especially considering the size of the estate in question, family, friends, and other  people or  organizations that may have an interest in an estate may not always know what a deceased person owned, or how much it was worth.

Potential beneficiaries may come under the false impression that there is  nothing of value in an estate, or not even be aware that they have an entitlement to  any part of it. Preparing the legal documents, such as wills, is only one step. In order to avoid unfortunate events such as the above unclaimed $1.9 million estate, one can take active steps such as to tell their executor, or another trusted individual where the will can be located in the event of death. Creating a list of assets can also be helpful where an estate may be larger or  of a complex nature.

Another issue that can arise is access to unique assets such as digital accounts as was discussed in this blog. Even in the case of intestacies, communication concerning one’s estate can still prevent significant issues.

Planning one’s estate can be daunting and uncomfortable, but with proper guidance it  can be made manageable. For more information on how to get started with planning an estate, you can read some of our blogs on the topic: Estate Planning: Starting 2021 on the Right Foot and Estate Planning? Back to Basics!.

Thank you for reading and have a great day!

Raphael Leitz