The statutory division in the Act cannot be deviated from. None of your friends or other relatives could benefit from your estate, nor would it be possible for any of your estate to be bequeathed to charities. You have no choice regarding who administers the estate. The Administrator will be appointed by court order. While anyone can apply to do this, preference goes to next of kin (usually the spouse, then children, then parents). If no one applies to do so, the Official Administrator for British Columbia will perform the task. This often prolongs the process. Court ordered appointment of an Administrator usually increases the legal costs to your estate. If you have outstanding debts when you die, your creditors will have to agree to the appointment of your Administrator without bond. If any of them don't agree to this, the court may require your Administrator to post a bond to protect the estate's assets. If you don't have a will, you cannot designate guardians for your children who are under the age of 19. If you have children younger than 19 when you die, their share of your estate will be paid to the Public Guardian and Trustee. It will be administered by this office until they reach the age of 19. You won't have any control over how the monies are paid out for the benefit of your children. Requests can be made for funds before they reach 19, but it's up to the discretion of the Public Guardian. Typically all assets must be converted to cash. Family heirlooms may not stay within your family. These heirlooms will be sold, and the proceeds distributed rather than passing down to your family members. The estate cannot be distributed until one year after your death. Some of your beneficiaries may experience financial hardship in the meantime, especially after payment of funeral expenses. You'll lose the opportunity to take advantage of any legal, tax or estate planning techniques that would have sped up the distribution of assets to your beneficiaries.

Community Involvement and Activities Hardeep is a member of the Trial Lawyer’s Association of British Columbia and the Law Society of British Columbia.  He is also a director of the Kamloops Gurudwara Sahib Society and an active member of the Punjabi community in Kamloops

Background Hardeep Chahal was born and raised in Kamloops, BC.  After receiving his Bachelor of Arts in Political Science at UBC in 1998, and his Law Degree at the University of Victoria in 2002, Hardeep returned to Kamloops to practice law. In August of 2005, Hardeep joined the legal team at Nixon & Company, and in March of 2009, he took over the law firm and it was renamed Chahal Priddle LLP.

ractice Areas Hardeep practices primarily in the areas of Personal Injury (ICBC claims), Real Estate, Corporate, Commercial, and Estates. He has appeared before the Provincial Court and Supreme Court of British Columbia, and has achieved numerous settlements favourable to his clients through mediation.