Monday, September 07, 2009

Kelowna Estate Planning Society Battle of the Lawyers

Tomorrow night I get to be involved in a "Battle of the Lawyers" presentation before the Kelowna Estate Plannings Society. Geoff White, Peter MacPherson, and I will be doing a mock hearing dealing with the issue of who is entitled to funds held jointly between a parent, who dies, and one of the parent's children.

The issue is one that arising frequently in estate disputes in British Columbia, but the facts in our presentation will be a little unusual. A certain fictional crime boss moves his family from New Jersey to Kelowna, British Columbia. He opens a storage jointly with his son, and puts five bags of money, totalling $2.5 million, into the facility. He and his wife die in a suspicious accident. His son claims the funds. His daughter sues, claiming that the funds belong to her father's estate, to be divided equally between her and her brother as beneficiaries of the estate.

Who is entitled to the funds? I don't know yet. That will be for our jury of Estate Planning Society members to decide.

1 comment:

Unknown said...

If I was the daughter I would sue too. What kind of brother wouldn't want to share with his sister? The fact they died in a suspicious accident is cause for concern also.

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