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Real estate

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Estate planning

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Client intake

Will intake

This is the intake we draft a will from. It asks about your family, what you own in broad terms, who you want to administer your estate, who receives it, and who would raise your children. Nothing here is binding; it is the starting point for the meeting. Your answers are kept on this device until you send them, so you can stop and come back.

11 sections. Your answers are kept on this device until you send them or clear them. Nothing leaves it until you press send.

Not this one? Back to the start

  1. 1 About you
  2. 2 Your relationship
  3. 3 Children
  4. 4 Children and the plan
  5. 5 Your executor
  6. 6 What you own
  7. 7 Specific gifts
  8. 8 The rest of your estate
  9. 9 Guardians
  10. 10 Other wishes
  11. 11 Reaching you

About you

Full legal names, exactly as they appear on government identification. No initials.

A maiden name, a name on an older document, a spelling a bank has.

City and country.

Do you have a will now?

Only if it applies to you.

Roughly when it was made, who prepared it, where the original is, and what has changed since.

Do you want a wills notice filed with Vital Statistics?

A notice records that a will exists and where it is kept, not what it says. It is how a will is found when it is needed. A government filing fee applies.

Your relationship

Your relationship status

Only if it applies to you.

Full legal names, exactly as they appear on government identification. No initials.

Only if it applies to you.

Only if it applies to you.

Only if it applies to you.

Does your spouse live at the same address?

Only if it applies to you.

Are we preparing a will for your spouse as well?

Each will is its own document and we take instructions from each of you separately, but most couples do them together.

Only if it applies to you.

Is there a marriage, cohabitation or separation agreement?

One may limit what a spouse can claim against your estate, and we need to read it.

Have you previously been married or in a marriage-like relationship?

Only if it applies to you.

Only if it applies to you.

Do you pay child or spousal support under an agreement or order?

An obligation like that can bind your estate, and the document has to be read.

Children

Every child of yours, from this relationship or any other, including adopted children. Stepchildren you have not adopted are worth listing too, with a note, because the law treats them differently.

How many children do you have?

More than four: list the rest in the notes at the end.

Child 1

Fill in as many as apply and leave the rest blank.

This child is
Tick any that apply
Child 2
This child is
Tick any that apply
Child 3
This child is
Tick any that apply
Child 4
This child is
Tick any that apply

Answer this section if you have children.

Children and the plan

Are all of your children included in your plan?

Only if it applies to you.

In British Columbia a child who is left out of a will, or left less than a court thinks adequate, can apply to have the will varied. The reasons matter, and a court reads them. Say as much as you are able to.

If you have more children later
Should a child's share be held in trust until they reach an age you choose?

Without this a child receives their share outright the moment they are an adult.

Your executor

The executor administers the estate: gathers what you own, pays what you owe, and distributes what is left. It is work, and it can take a year or more. Choose someone organised who is likely to outlive you, and name an alternate.

Only if it applies to you.

Do you want your spouse to be your executor?

Give the executor's details below. If your spouse is the executor, enter their details here so the will can name them fully.

Full legal names, exactly as they appear on government identification. No initials.

Spouse, daughter, brother, friend, and so on.

Do you want a second person named?

Only if it applies to you.

Full legal names, exactly as they appear on government identification. No initials.

Only if it applies to you.

Only if it applies to you.

Only if it applies to you.

Only if it applies to you.

Only if it applies to you.

Only if it applies to you.

Only if it applies to you.

Only if it applies to you.

Only if it applies to you.

Spouse, daughter, brother, friend, and so on.

Should your executor be paid for the work?

An executor can claim a fee from the estate whether or not the will says so. The will can fix it, exclude it, or leave it to the court.

What you own

Property held in joint names and accounts with a named beneficiary pass outside the will, so knowing which is which is the first job. Approximate values are enough; we do not need account numbers.

Tick everything you own or have an interest in

Only if it applies to you.

Only if it applies to you.

One line each is enough. Whether an account names a beneficiary decides whether the will controls it at all.

Only if it applies to you.

Should your business or company shares be dealt with in a separate will?

A second will for private company shares can keep them out of probate. It depends on the company and it is a conversation for the meeting.

Only if it applies to you.

Do your registered accounts, pension and insurance name a beneficiary?

Anything with a named beneficiary passes to that person directly, whatever the will says.

Tick anything you owe

Only if it applies to you.

Specific gifts

A particular item, or a sum of money, to a particular person or charity before the rest of the estate is divided.

Do you want to leave any specific gifts?

Only if it applies to you.

How many?

More than four: list the rest in the notes at the end.

Gift 1

Fill in as many as apply and leave the rest blank.

A person's full name, or a charity's registered name.

An item, described so it cannot be confused with another, or a sum.

Gift 2

A person's full name, or a charity's registered name.

An item, described so it cannot be confused with another, or a sum.

Gift 3

A person's full name, or a charity's registered name.

An item, described so it cannot be confused with another, or a sum.

Gift 4

A person's full name, or a charity's registered name.

An item, described so it cannot be confused with another, or a sum.

The rest of your estate

The residue is everything left after debts, expenses and specific gifts. This is usually the bulk of the estate.

Who should receive the residue?

Only if it applies to you.

Full names, their relationship to you, and each person's share.

Who receives the estate if everyone you have named has died before you. Often siblings, nieces and nephews, or a charity.

Answer this section if any of your children is still a minor.

Guardians

If any of your children is still a minor, who should raise them if neither parent can. The guardian looks after the child; the executor, or a trustee, looks after the child's money, and they can be different people.

Is any of your children still a minor?

Only if it applies to you.

Full legal names, exactly as they appear on government identification. No initials.

Only if it applies to you.

Only if it applies to you.

Only if it applies to you.

Only if it applies to you.

Only if it applies to you.

Only if it applies to you.

Only if it applies to you.

Only if it applies to you.

Only if it applies to you.

Spouse, daughter, brother, friend, and so on.

Only if it applies to you.

Name, relationship to you, and where they live.

Other wishes

Your wishes for your remains

Tell your family too. A will is often read after the funeral has happened.

Have you prepaid any arrangements?
Do you have pets you want provided for?

Only if it applies to you.

Do you also want any of these?

Each has its own short intake, and most people making a will do all three at once.

Reaching you

How you would rather be contacted, who to thank for sending you, and anything the questions above did not cover.

How would you rather be contacted?
How did you hear about the firm?

Only if it applies to you.

Optional, and the only reason we ask is so we can.

Anything the questions above did not cover: more children, more gifts, a beneficiary who needs particular care, a family circumstance we should know about before the meeting.

Before you send it

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