Alberta Estate and Family Law

As this unfortunate case demonstrates, it is extremely challenging to access a loved one’s digital assets after their death. Tech companies play by their own rules and the normal documents that an executor can rely on to deal with estate assets may not be sufficient to deal with digital assets. As the article states, tech companies refusing to hand over digital assets is a problem affecting everything from stocks, insurance policies and PayPal to gaming credits, social media posts and family photos.

Parenting and custody arrangements for divorced parents are made even more challenging in the time of Covid, particularly when the children involved are teens, who have more of a voice over which parent they want to stay with during a potential Covid-related lockdown! https://www.facebook.com/523430500/posts/10164061215095501/

Courts are increasingly being asked to step in and make decisions about whether children should be going to school when divorced parents are unable to reach an agreement. https://apple.news/AaMFw0SrIQXGZ2Lg3SPsqyg

Wills, Powers of Attorney and Personal Directives can now be signed in Alberta remotely with the lawyer through video technology. #estateplanning #wills #probate #powersofattorney #personaldirective https://www.fieldlaw.com//Remote-Witnessing-of-Wills-Endur

While an estate planning lawyer can’t help you with homeschooling your little ones, they can definitely talk to you about including a guardianship clause in your personal directive and in your Will so that you can decide who will have that pleasure in the future. In the meantime, enjoy some homeschooling bingo. #guardianshipofminors #willsandestates #personaldirective #estateplanning

In answering a question earlier today about when someone should be moved from a long term care facility to an acute care hospital, Dr. Hinshaw answered that such decisions would depend on a number of factors, including the individual’s wishes as set out in an advanced directive. Sadly, many Albertans don’t have such a directive in place. A personal directive is a critical part of one’s estate plan that allows one to express their wishes about what should happen to them at the end of their life. These are not easy or comfortable things to think or talk about, but as recent events prove, life can change quickly without warning and we need to be prepared as best as we can. No one but you should be in charge of what happens to you at the end of your life. #personaldirective #fieldlaw #drhinshawisamazing

Handwritten notes on a McDonald’s napkin considered a valid legal Will Handwritten wills are accepted by Alberta courts as valid so long as the document is entirely in the handwriting of the deceased and is signed by the deceased. There are no other requirements for the document to be considered valid. Although handwritten wills may be considered valid, they should not be a substitute for a proper, formal will prepared by a lawyer. It can be very expensive to rectify issues... created by a poorly drafted handwritten will. For example, take the case of Gust v. Langan, a recent case from Saskatchewan. In this case, the question before the Court was whether an undated series of notes made by the deceased on a McDonald’s napkin was a valid holograph (handwritten) will. Ultimately, the Court decided that the notes displayed sufficient testamentary intent and found that the McDonald’s napkin was a valid will. In order to get that result, however, the estate and the beneficiaries likely spent thousands of dollars in legal fees, all of which could have been avoided had Mr. Langan simply made a proper will with a lawyer.