Joseph was 60 years old when he lost his wife to cancer. Online he met an Israeli named Rebecca, a 40-year-old widow. They emailed each other, grew to care for one another and decided to marry. Rebecca and her children moved into Joseph's home. The adult children from Joseph's first marriage feared that Rebecca and her children were going to take away their inheritance. Joseph assured his children that Rebecca signed an agreement under which she gave up all her claims under the Family Law Act and could not claim support against his estate when Joseph died. Joseph assured them they he left his children all of his money. Should the children have relaxed? Maybe – Maybe not.

The Court’s decision in Fichera v. McAllister acts as an important reminder of the importance of creating a contemporaneous evidentiary record of a parent’s intention when gifting property to their adult children.

As discussed in our blog, Gift or Loan? A case review of Greco v. Frano, one of the issues frequently raised in estate litigation is how to characterize funds that were advanced to/by a deceased. These types of cases often focus on whether the funds should be considered to be a gift or a loan. One of the reasons the courts are faced with these types of claims so frequently is that these are non-arm's length transactions and family members often do not feel the need to document their intentions as they would if they were dealing with arm's length parties.

There are certain situations in which one already knows that a Will is going to be challenged. It may be on the basis that there is some question about the testator’s capacity or his relationship with a new romantic partner who suddenly appeared or the bequests are unusual. Whatever the case might be, one might find yourself litigating in the face of a no-contest clause that appears within the Will that is having its validity challenged.

This blog will examine one of the most common mistakes made by people using DIY homemade wills - asking a beneficiary to witness the execution of the will.

Evaluating whether a limitation period may apply to prevent a party from pursuing their claim involves a two-stage analysis. First, the court must determine when a claim was “discovered”. Second the court will determine whether the applicant/plaintiff commenced a “proceeding” within the required time period.

Netflix’s recent hit docuseries, “Tiger King: Murder, Mayhem, and Madness”, chronicles the true story of the self-professed “Tiger King”, Joe Maldonado-Passage, also known as “Joe Exotic”. Joe was an eccentric private zookeeper, country music singer, and one-time candidate for Governor of Oklahoma who is currently serving a 22 year federal prison sentence for hiring a hitman to murder his rival, Carole Baskin, as well as other wildlife-related offences.Believe it or not, this bizarre story from the big-cat world raises legal issues pertaining to the law of estates.

A fundamental proposition of the common law with its own impressive Latin maxim (Nemo dat quod non habet) is that one cannot pass title to property one doesn’t own.