Wills & Estates
Wills and estate matters often involve important family decisions, future planning, and legal responsibilities that can be easy to put off or hard to manage alone. We help individuals, families, executors, and loved ones with estate planning, probate, wills, powers of attorney, and related estate matters, with practical legal guidance built around clarity, care, and follow-through.
Estate Planning & Administration
Practical help with planning ahead and handling responsibilities
This area of law can involve much more than signing a will. It can also include preparing for incapacity, giving someone authority to act if needed, helping an executor carry out legal responsibilities, and dealing with the steps that follow a death.
Wills & Estate Services
Three common paths in this area
Some matters are about planning ahead. Others arise after a loss, when legal responsibilities need to be handled properly and emotions are already running high. These are three of the most common service paths we help clients work through.
When People Often Reach Out
Situations that can become legal matters quickly
People often reach out when an important decision has been delayed, a family responsibility has become urgent, or an estate matter feels more complicated than expected. These are some of the situations where legal guidance can help bring more clarity and reduce avoidable problems.
Planning for the Future
Many people want to put their affairs in order before a health issue, family change, or unexpected event makes those decisions harder to manage
Updating a Will
A will may need to be updated after a marriage, separation, birth, death, major purchase, or other change that affects your wishes or family circumstances.
Preparing for Incapacity
Planning ahead can include making sure someone you trust can handle legal and financial matters if you become unable to do so yourself.
Acting as an Executor
Executors are often left trying to manage paperwork, court steps, deadlines, and family expectations while also dealing with the loss itself.
Applying for Probate
Probate can involve documents, notices, and responsibilities that are not always obvious at the start, especially where assets need to be transferred properly.
Managing an Estate
Estate administration may include gathering information, dealing with legal steps, and making sure the estate is handled in an orderly and responsible way.
Our Role in the Process
Legal support at each stage
Wills and estate matters often involve more than one step behind the scenes. From preparing documents and reviewing planning goals to helping with probate and administration, we provide practical support throughout the process.
Planning Conversations
We help you think through the decisions that shape an estate plan so the right documents reflect your wishes clearly and work together properly.
Document Preparation
We prepare and review wills, powers of attorney, and related estate documents so the terms are clear and the legal details are handled carefully.
Probate Guidance
We help executors and families understand the probate process, prepare required materials, and move the matter forward with clearer direction.
Administration Support
We provide support with the legal steps tied to administering an estate so responsibilities are easier to understand and manage from start to finish.
First Steps
What getting help can look like
Wills and estate matters can begin in very different ways. Sometimes someone wants to plan ahead. Sometimes an executor or family member is dealing with responsibilities that have suddenly become urgent. In either case, the first step is usually a short conversation about what is happening and what kind of help may be needed.
Get In Touch
Contact the office by phone or form and tell us whether you are planning ahead, updating documents, or dealing with responsibilities after a death.
Share Context
A few key details about the family situation, the documents involved, or the estate helps us understand what kind of legal support may be needed.
Get Guidance
Once we understand the matter, we can explain the right service path, flag any immediate concerns, and outline the most practical next step.
Take Next Step
If we can help, we will guide you toward the next step, whether that involves document preparation, probate support, or estate administration
Reassurance When It Matters
Support that respects the personal side of the matter
Wills and estate matters are often tied to aging parents, young children, blended families, a recent loss, or decisions that have been weighing on someone for a long time. People want to know that their wishes will be handled carefully, the process will be explained clearly, and the family impact will be taken seriously from the start.
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Clear guidance. Local experience. Practical support when it matters most.
Lawyers for Wills & Estate Matters
Lawyers who work closely in this area
Planning ahead and handling an estate after a death both call for careful legal guidance. These are the lawyers most closely connected to wills, powers of attorney, probate, and estate administration within our team.
Questions People Commonly Ask
Practical answers about wills, probate, and next steps
These are some of the questions people often have before they reach out or decide which part of this area fits their situation best.
Not necessarily. In British Columbia the Health Care (Consent) and Care Facility (Admission) Act provides a system for appointing a temporary substitute decision maker based on certain family relationships. If you do not want the individual provided by the Act to make your decisions you may need a Representation Agreement. In addition having a Representation Agreement keeps decision making clear and avoids delay or arguments during what tends to be a difficult time.
The cost of making a representation agreement varies depending who is writing the agreement, the complexity of the situation, and the capacity and location of the writer and appointed representatives. At Woolley & Co. we write Representation Agreements starting at $500 + tax.
A representation agreement allows you to designate someone as your representative to make decisions about health-care should you be unable to make those decisions yourself.
The cost of a power of attorney in BC depends on the lawyer, whether it is prepared on its own or with other planning documents, and whether the situation involves real estate, business interests, family conflict, or special instructions. Legal help adds value by making sure the authority is clear, the document is properly prepared, and the person you appoint can rely on it when it is needed.
Our prices for a Power of Attorney are competitive starting at $335 + tax.
You are not always required to use a lawyer to make a will in BC, but legal advice can be very important. The proper Will is only one part in effective estate planning. A lawyer can help make sure the will reflects your wishes, uses clear wording, deals with executor and beneficiary issues, and is signed and witnessed properly. Template documents can seem cheaper at first, but mistakes, unclear wording, or missing planning details can create much larger problems for the estate later.
The cost of making a will in BC depends on the lawyer, the documents needed, and the complexity of the family, property, business, or estate issues involved. A simple will may cost less than a plan involving blended families, minor children, real estate, trusts, or business interests. The value of legal help is that the will is prepared around your actual circumstances, signed properly, and less likely to create confusion later.
Woolley & Co. provides will writing services starting at $600 + tax.
After probate is granted, the executor can usually move forward with gathering estate assets, dealing with banks or property, paying debts and expenses, addressing tax steps, communicating with beneficiaries, and distributing the estate according to the will once it is appropriate to do so.
Not always. A bank’s requirements can depend on the value of the account, how the account was held, whether there is a named beneficiary, the institution’s policies, and whether the bank is satisfied with the executor’s authority. Larger or more complex estates are more likely to require probate.
An executor should be careful about using or withdrawing estate funds before the bank confirms what authority it requires. Some financial institutions may freeze accounts after death, while others may release funds for limited estate expenses or after receiving probate or other documentation.
Estate planning is the process of deciding what should happen to your property, finances, and certain personal decisions if you pass away or can no longer make decisions yourself. It may involve a will, power of attorney, representation agreement, advance directive, and related planning.
The cost of estate planning in Canada depends on the documents needed, the lawyer or notary involved, the province, and the complexity of the family, property, business, or tax issues. A simple plan may cost less than a plan involving blended families, trusts, business interests, or multiple properties.
The steps often include identifying your goals, listing assets and debts, choosing trusted decision-makers, considering beneficiaries and dependants, preparing the right documents, signing them properly, and reviewing the plan when life changes. The exact steps depend on your family, property, and wishes.
That depends on the children’s ages, the type of assets involved, the family structure, and whether timing or conditions matter. Legal advice can help make sure the overall plan fits your intentions and avoids gaps between your will and other planning decisions.
The CPP death benefit is a one-time payment that may be payable to the estate or another eligible person on behalf of a deceased CPP contributor. Government of Canada sources describe it as a payment of up to $2,500.
Probate is a court process used to confirm that a will is valid and that the executor has authority to act. It can involve court forms, notices, asset information, and steps that need to be handled before certain assets can be transferred.
Not necessarily. Financial institutions and other asset holders can require probate before they will accept the will and transfer estate assets. An executor often needs to show proof of authority before gaining access to certain accounts or property.
This area can include estate planning, wills, powers of attorney, probate, estate administration, and related legal matters tied to incapacity planning or handling affairs after a death.
Need Help With a Wills or Estate Matter?
We can help you move forward with more clarity
Some matters do not fit neatly into one category right away. You may be planning ahead, trying to update old documents, or dealing with responsibilities after a death without being completely sure what comes first.
If that sounds familiar, reach out and tell us what is happening. We can help you get a clearer sense of the next step and whether this is the right place to begin.
Not sure where your wills or estate matter fits? Get in touch and ask.
