How to count five days, according to the Wills, Estates and Succession Act

Grant Estate v. British Columbia (Land Title and Survey Authority)| 2016 BCSC 2241| British Columbia Supreme Court

Estates and trusts --- Estates — Construction of wills — Fundamental issues — Time from which will speaks

Husband and wife were married for 67 years — Both died in 1996 at 92 years of age — Wife died intestate on January 12 at 4:12 a.m. — Husband executed will on January 14 — Husband died on January 17 at 1:40 p.m. — Section 10(1) of Wills, Estates and Succession Act (WESA) provided that person who did not survive deceased person by five days was conclusively deemed to have died before deceased person — Executor brought application for, among other things, determination that husband survived wife by five days — Application granted — Wording of s. 10(1) of WESA referred to surviving "by five days" — Calculation of time in s. 25(5) of Interpretation Act applied to exclude first day and include last day — Wife's date of death was excluded from calculation but husband was still alive on fifth day — Since notice was not taken of fractions of day, husband survived wife by five days — Husband's property passed to executor of husband's estate.