What happens if I die without a will?

In Ontario, if you die without a will , an intestacy results and your estate is distributed in accordance with the rules set out in the Succession Law Reform Act. These rules may not coincide with your wishes:

If you leave a spouse, your spouse will have the absolute right to your estate

Where there are both a surviving spouse and children, the rules change. Your spouse inherits the first $ 200,000.00 of your estate and shares the rest with your children ( 1/2 of the residue where there is one child, 1/3 of the residue where there are two or more children)

Without a will, a personal representative will be appointed by the court who may not be the person you would have chosen. An estate administration bond may be required which will increase the costs of administering your estate

Common-law spouses and same-sex spouses while now having a claim to support from the estate do not have a claim to ownership of property

Children inherit at age 18, an age when they may not be ready to responsibility to handle an inheritance

No opportunity to do any estate planning or minimize taxes on death