I am beginning to think this may be a theme I ought to address on a regular basis: As widowhood and remarriage, divorce and remarriage, blended families, cohabitation, common-law marriage, and other family and near-family relational structures become more common, I grieve for the poor judges who must make increasingly complex decisions for families whose inheritance-grantors have failed to create estate plan documents . . . or, having made such documents, have failed to keep them current.

You need to review your estate and legacy plan documents. Regularly.

I told the story of Ernest Samuelson, two months ago.

Now Stan Rule tells the story of the Sikora family:

Peter Sikora died on December 20, 2004. He had a widow, San Sikora. They had been married for over 18 years, and lived together for about five years before their marriage. He also had a child from a previous marriage, Richard Arthur, and three sons from a previous common-law relationship, David Sikora, Douglas Sikora and Donald Sikora.

When he made his will on August 16, 1986, Peter Sikora owned a house in Ashcroft, in which he and his wife lived, and a rental property in Delta, B.C. He also owned a small business, buying and selling electronic parts.

In his will, he appointed his wife and his son Donald as his executors. He left his wife his house in Ashcroft (the title to which he held in his sole name), his furnishing and his car. He left $500 to his son Richard. He left the residue of his estate to his other three children.

He later sold his rental property in Delta, and used some of the proceeds to pay off his mortgage on his house in Ashcroft. He also wound up his business.

At his death, most of the value of his estate was comprised of the house at Ashcroft. It now has a property tax assessed value of just under $570,000. After deducting his debts, funeral expenses, executor fees, legal and probate fees, there was only about $11,500 to be divided among the three children entitled to the residue of Peter Sikora’s estate.

Oh.

And Mr. Sikora’s wife is independently wealthy to the tune of some $1.25 million, has an adult son of her own (who lives with her) . . . and none of Mr. Sikora’s kids by his previous wives, apparently, is more than moderately wealthy.

–Can you see where this is heading?

Wife gets an asset worth half a million dollars for her estate; his kids get almost nothing. Wife, when she dies, will pass on her assets to who? Mr. Sikora’s kids . . . or . . . ???

Yep. You’ve got that one right! Sikora’s kids are basically shut out of the will.

“Luckily,” British Columbia has a Wills Variation Act whereby “spouses and children may apply to vary a will if their deceased spouses or parents (as the case may be) have not made adequate provision for them. The Supreme Court of British Columbia may then make such provision as the Court decides is just, adequate and equitable in the circumstances.”

So David and Douglas Sikora applied for a variation to Peter Sikora’s will. And the final judgment?

You’ll have to see Mr. Rule’s post! (I am so glad I didn’t have to be the judge! . . . But, under the circumstances, I think he did an admirable job of slicing the baby.

Main point, again: Keep your documents up-to-date. And, still important, though I’m willing to consider them of slightly lower priority (because I am going to assume fewer of my readers will write such documents):

• Think very seriously about how “fair” others may view your plans.
• If you think someone else might view your plans as a bit “unfair” (and especially if they might view them as grossly unfair!), make sure you include within your documents some kind of reasoned explanation for your choices.

Most of all, however,

• If you face such circumstances, consult with a qualified and experienced attorney–preferably one who has not only drafted documents, but who has observed, in person, the real-world results of different ways of doing things.

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