How Much Does a Spouse Get When There Is No Will in British Columbia?
This answer covers the law of British Columbia.
If you were the deceased's spouse and there are no surviving descendants, you receive the whole intestate estate. If there are descendants, you take a preferential share first, which is $300,000, or a greater prescribed amount, where all the deceased's descendants are also your descendants.
If some of the descendants are not also yours, the preferential share drops to $150,000, or a greater prescribed amount. You also take the household furnishings, and the rest of the estate is divided equally between you and the descendants. If the net estate is worth less than your preferential share, you take all of it and the descendants take nothing.
These rules apply only if you count as a spouse, meaning you were married to the deceased or had lived in a marriage-like relationship for at least 2 years. Married spouses stop being spouses if an event such as separation gives rise to an interest in family property under the Family Law Act, and common-law spouses stop when one or both end the relationship. Prescribed amounts can change, so confirm the current figures with a lawyer.
Key takeaways
- With a spouse and no surviving descendants, the spouse takes the whole intestate estate.
- The preferential share is $300,000 when all descendants are also the spouse's, and $150,000 when they are not, or a greater prescribed amount in either case.
- After the preferential share, the rest is divided equally between the spouse and the descendants, and the spouse also takes the household furnishings.
- Spousal status can end on separation, so whether you count as a spouse is worth confirming with a lawyer.