What Happens to a Gift in a Will if the Beneficiary Dies Before the Will-Maker in British Columbia?

This answer covers the law of British Columbia.

Where the gift goes depends on the will's wording and on who the beneficiary was. If a gift in a will cannot take effect for any reason, including because the beneficiary died before the will-maker, it goes first to any alternative beneficiary named in the will, subject to a contrary intention in the will.

If there is no alternative beneficiary and the failed beneficiary was the will-maker's sibling or descendant, the gift goes to that beneficiary's descendants, determined at the will-maker's death. Otherwise, it goes to the surviving residuary beneficiaries named in the will, in proportion to their interests.

Timing matters too. A person who does not survive the deceased by 5 days, or by any longer period set in the instrument, is treated as having died first. So a beneficiary who dies within that period after the will-maker may be treated as having died first. If the will-maker and their spouse cease to be spouses after the will is made, a gift to the former spouse is revoked and distributed as if the spouse had died before the will-maker, unless the will shows a contrary intention. Because the result turns on the exact wording of the will, a lawyer can confirm how it applies.