Wills, Estates and Succession Act Coming into Force on March 31, 2014.

The Minister of Justice and Attorney General for British Columbia Shirley Bond announced this morning that British Columbia's new succession legislation, the Wills, Estates and Succession Act and new probate rules will come into force on March 31, 2014.

The new legislation is a major overhaul of succession law and procedure in British Columbia. It has been years in the making and follows the British Columbia Law Institute's comprehensive report Wills Estates and Succession: a Modern Legal Framework, published in 2006.

You can read the press release here.

Today, the B.C. Government also published the new probate forms, which will be used starting March 31, 2014 when the new Act comes into force. You can see the forms at the following link, which provides an explanation of the new probate rules, the rules and the forms.