The Surrogate Rules and the Wills and Succession Act are amended. These amendments are reflected in:
(a) Surrogate Rules Amendment Regulation (AR 37/2020) (“Regulation”); and
(b) Justice Statutes Amendment Act, 2014, SA chapter 13, section 13(13) (“Act”).
The Regulation is effective April 16, 2020, except for section 10. Section 10 is tied to the coming into force of section 13(13) of the Act. Section 13(13) of the Act is effective April 1, 2020.
The Regulation makes a number of amendments to the Surrogate Rules. Section 13(13) of the Act amends section 95 of the Wills and Succession Act. Section 10 of the Regulation makes amendments to Surrogate Rule 70.9 that are consequential to the amendments made to section 95 of the Wills and Succession Act.
The Regulation may be accessed at the following link: http://www.qp.alberta.ca/documents/Orders/Orders_in_Council/2020/2020_079.html
The Act may be accessed at the following link:
http://www.qp.alberta.ca/1266.cfm?page=2014ch13_unpr.cfm&leg_type=Acts&isbncln=9780779786022&display=html
Online Surrogate Forms
All the non-contentious matter (NC) Surrogate forms are now available online in a PDF fillable format on the Government of Alberta website. They may be accessed here.
These forms reflect Family Statutes Amendment Act changes that came into force on January 1, 2020. They do not include the changes to Surrogate forms which, by virtue of the Regulation, will come into effect on April 16, 2020. It is not yet known when revised forms, reflecting changes with effect from April 16, 2020, will be available online.
Grandfathering of Old Surrogate Forms
It is the responsibility of applicants or their counsel to ensure that they are fully complying with the requirements of amendments reflecting changes to the Surrogate Rules and applicable legislation which are force and effect. That responsibility extends to the use of updated forms. However, to ensure continued access to services for applicants, Clerks will continue to accept and process old forms (forms prior to the above referred to amendments effective January 1, 2020, April 1, 2020 and April 16, 2020) until the expiry of a grace period. The grace period will expire on September 1, 2020.
During the grace period, Clerks will advise the reviewing Justice that an outdated form has been used in the application. Following the expiry of the grace period (September 1, 2020 and onwards), Clerks will apply the existing protocol regarding the use of outdated forms. If an application is using an outdated form, the application must be accompanied by a letter explaining why the application is using an outdated form. If no such letter is provided, the application will be rejected at the counter. If such a letter is provided, the reviewing Justice will decide whether the explanation provided warrants acceptance of an outdated form.