A complete BC estate plan has three core documents: an enduring power of attorney for finances, a representation agreement for health and personal care, and a will. Skip them, and the Public Guardian and Trustee or BC's rigid intestacy rules end up making these decisions for you instead.
What Documents Make Up a Complete Estate Plan in BC?
People often think of "estate planning" as just a will, but a will only takes effect after you die. Two other documents govern what happens if you're still alive but unable to make decisions — a situation a will has nothing to say about. Together, the three core documents, plus one optional one, are:
- An enduring power of attorney, for financial and legal decisions
- A representation agreement, for health and personal care decisions
- An advance directive (optional, and narrower than the two above)
- A will, for what happens to your estate after death
What Is an Enduring Power of Attorney?
An enduring power of attorney lets you name someone — your "attorney" — to manage your financial and legal affairs. What makes it "enduring" is that it continues to apply even if you later become mentally incapable, which is precisely when you'd need it most. A standard, non-enduring power of attorney ends the moment you lose capacity — the opposite of what most people actually want from this kind of planning.
To make one, you need to be at least 19 years old and mentally capable of understanding what you're signing. The document must be signed in the presence of two witnesses, though only one witness is required if that witness is a lawyer or a member in good standing of the Society of Notaries Public of British Columbia.
Who Can Be Your Attorney, and What Can They Do?
Most people name a spouse, adult child, or someone else they trust completely — your attorney will have real authority over your bank accounts, investments, and property, so this isn't a decision to make lightly. You can limit the scope of what they're authorized to do, or grant broad authority over all of your financial affairs. Both types of power of attorney end automatically on your death or bankruptcy — your will, not your power of attorney, takes over from that point.
What Is a Representation Agreement?
A representation agreement is the health and personal care counterpart to a power of attorney — it lets you name a "representative" to make decisions about your health care, where you live, and your personal care if you can't make them yourself. BC law provides for two versions with meaningfully different scope.
Section 7 vs. Section 9 — What's the Difference?
A Section 9 representation agreement is the broader option, covering health and personal care decisions, including consenting to or refusing health care necessary to preserve life. A Section 7 agreement can cover the same personal and health care ground but can also authorize your representative to handle the routine management of your financial affairs — useful if you want one person and one document handling both, though it comes with its own specific witnessing requirements. Neither version covers major financial or legal transactions the way an enduring power of attorney does.
What Is an Advance Directive?
An advance directive is different from both of the above — instead of naming a person to decide for you, it's a written instruction, made while you're capable, giving or refusing consent to specific future health care in the situations you describe. It works well for clear, specific wishes, but it can't cover every possible medical scenario the way a representative who can respond to changing circumstances can. Many people use an advance directive alongside a representation agreement rather than instead of one.
What Happens If You Don't Have Any of These Documents?
If you become mentally incapable without a valid enduring power of attorney covering all of your financial affairs, the Public Guardian and Trustee of British Columbia can step in as your statutory property guardian — a public official, not someone you chose, managing your finances under the Public Guardian and Trustee Act. The Public Guardian and Trustee can also investigate and audit an existing attorney's conduct if there's reason to believe you've become incapable of managing your own affairs, as a further safeguard. For health and personal care, the absence of a representation agreement can mean family members are left arguing over decisions with no clear legal authority to make them, or the decision defaults to whoever the law designates — not necessarily who you would have chosen.
What Makes a Will Legally Valid in BC?
Under the Wills, Estates and Succession Act (WESA), you must be at least 16 years old to make a will. The will must be in writing and signed at the end by you (or by someone else, in your presence and at your direction). That signature must be made or acknowledged in the presence of two witnesses, present at the same time, who are themselves adults and who then also sign the will.
Can I Write My Own Will?
You can, but BC does not recognize handwritten, unwitnessed "holograph" wills the way some other provinces do — a document that skips the witnessing requirement is not automatically valid here. WESA section 58 does give the BC Supreme Court discretion to "cure" a non-compliant document and treat it as a valid will if the court is satisfied it genuinely reflects your fixed, final intentions — but that requires a court application after your death, with no guarantee of the outcome, and real delay and expense for the people you meant to protect. A properly witnessed will avoids putting your family through that process entirely.
What Happens If You Die Without a Will?
Dying without a valid will means WESA's intestacy rules decide who inherits, regardless of what you actually wanted. If you have a spouse and children all common to that spouse, your spouse receives a preferential share of $300,000, plus half of whatever remains, with your children sharing the other half. If you have children from another relationship, that preferential share drops to $150,000. If you have no spouse or children, the estate passes to parents, then siblings, then more distant relatives, in an order fixed by the Act — with no ability for you to have directed any of it differently.
When You Actually Need a Lawyer for Estate Planning
We'll be straightforward rather than oversell it. A simple will leaving everything to a spouse or splitting an estate evenly among adult children, paired with a standard enduring power of attorney and representation agreement, is well within what a notary public can prepare properly and often more affordably. Where legal advice earns its cost is blended families, business ownership, a beneficiary with a disability where a trust may be needed to protect government benefits, concerns about a family member contesting the will, or any estate complex enough that getting it wrong creates real cost and conflict for the people left behind. If you're unsure which category you fall into, a short conversation up front is far cheaper than a dispute after the fact.
Cost and Timeline Summary
Legal or notary fees for a straightforward will and power of attorney package vary by firm and complexity, so ask for a fee estimate up front. Beyond the document preparation itself, factor in the time needed to properly think through who you're naming as attorney, representative, and executor — these decisions matter more than how quickly the paperwork gets signed. Most straightforward estate planning packages can be prepared in a matter of weeks once you've decided who your key people will be.
Our wills and estates lawyers in Surrey, BC prepare enduring powers of attorney, representation agreements, and wills ranging from straightforward to complex, including blended-family and trust planning. If your situation is genuinely simple, our notary services can often handle it more affordably. Book a free consultation to find out which one fits your situation.