Imagine Rebecca falling in love with a very wealthy older man. His children insist that before marriage she must sign a domestic contract and promise not to make any claim for support or division of property under either the Family Law Act or the Succession Law Reform Act. Rebecca is young, in love and knows that this man loves her. She agrees. Fast forward twenty years later and Rebecca’s husband has died. He has left her nothing in his Will and she has no means of support. Is there anything Rebecca can do? Maybe.

Paul suffered from Becker's Muscular Dystrophy. He often fell, had trouble standing up or sitting down and going down stairs was arduous. When his parents divorced, Paul's father undertook to support him and recognized that this obligation was to survive his death. In his Will, Father left $125,000 trust to care for Paul. The disease was progressively debilitating and the expense for Paul's care substantially increasing. It was clear that not even Father's entire estate of $650,000 would be enough to care for Paul. He asked for increased support with a dependant's relief application under the Succession Law Reform Act . The court considered the morality of giving everything to Paul at the expense of the other beneficiaries.

Mr. Grant died and left behind both his wife and ex wife. He signed a separation agreement with wife number one where he agreed to provide spousal support for the rest of her life. However, the first Mrs. Grant was not a beneficiary under his Will and upon his death the last Mrs. Grant declined to continue support payments to the first Mrs. Grant. The first Mrs. Grant applied to the Court for a lump sum payment that reflected the money she would have received had Mr. Grant still lived.