When you die without a will, the notary will apply legal devolution to your estate. Legal devolution is the legal rule in the Civil Code of Quebec to determine who inherits and in what proportions.

The only way to avoid legal devolution is by writing a Last Will.

When you die without a Last Will, the executor (also known as the liquidator) of your Estate are all the legal heirs, jointly.

This means that everyone who inherits. Regardless if they are minor or an adult, they must act together in order to liquidate the Estate. This can be a complex legal problem when some heirs are minor, incapacitated, elderly, unable to travel, etc. Moreover, this means that the executors must agree and act together.

The heirs will appoint by majority a liquidator. The appointment is written in a notary document called a “Nomination of liquidator”. However, since there is no Last Will, the liquidator will not have full power to act independently. Certain actions, like selling a property, will require unanimous consent among all the heirs.

The only way to appoint a liquidator of your choice who has full power to act is by writing a Last Will.

When then deceased did not write a will, the Estate has the obligation to sign certain documents :

• Declaration of heredity : The purpose of this document is to declare who inherit by law

• Nomination of liquidator : The purpose of this documents is for all heirs who inherit by law to designate among them who will be the executor of the Estate

These documents must be prepared and signed before a notary. They are necessary in order to begin the liquidation of the Estate.

If you have a common-law spouse, they will not inherit by law. The Civil Code of Quebec does not recognize common-law spouse as an automatic heir in an Estate.

The only way to assure an inheritance for a common-law spouse is to write a >Last Will.

Should you die without a Last Will and have minor children, then the surviving mother or father will be the “tutor” to your children.

Should both parents die, then the responsibility to take of the children goes to the person appointed by the last surviving parent in their Last Will.

All minor children must have a tutor. Should you have not written a Last Will or declared a tutor with the Public Curator, the court will appoint a tutor to your children after death. The tutor will have parental authority. Manage the children’s property and be responsible for their primary needs.