When a couple moves from one country to another, estate planning can get tricky, especially if multiple wills are involved. The recent BC Supreme Court case of Re Siebert Estate tackled exactly this problem—can a new will made in British Columbia revoke an older, joint will from Germany?

Johannes and Daniela, originally from Germany, moved to British Columbia in the early 1990s. In 1995, while still closely connected to Germany, they made a joint will naming Daniela’s parents as beneficiaries of their entire estate. Fast forward to 2019, Daniela, then seriously ill, wrote another will in British Columbia, leaving everything solely to her husband Johannes and explicitly revoking any previous wills.

After both spouses passed away—Daniela in 2019 and Johannes in 2022—a dispute arose over who would inherit their assets in Canada, primarily a farm in BC.

Gertrud, Daniela’s surviving mother and named beneficiary under the German joint will, argued that the 1995 joint will remained valid. She presented evidence from German law that said joint wills like theirs could only be revoked through a notarized mutual agreement, which had not occurred.

Shawna, who claimed a common-law relationship with Johannes, opposed this. She argued that Daniela’s 2019 BC will effectively revoked the 1995 will, meaning Johannes died without a Will.

Did Daniela’s 2019 BC will revoke the joint will from Germany, particularly regarding the BC property?

The court first noted that under BC’s Wills, Estates and Succession Act (WESA), the formal validity of the German joint will wasn’t in dispute. The main question was about revocation, a substantive issue that BC law governed, especially since the property at stake was located here.

Under BC law, a newer will can explicitly revoke previous wills. Here, Daniela’s 2019 will clearly said it revoked all earlier wills. The court found no enforceable agreement between Johannes and Daniela that would have prevented revocation. Even though their original joint will was valid under German law, BC law applies to property in BC, and Daniela’s revocation was valid and effective.

The court concluded Johannes died intestate—without a valid will—under BC law. The older German will had no legal effect on the BC estate once Daniela explicitly revoked it in 2019.

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