Will Challenge

In Ontario a Will Challenge addresses a number of questions. Did the testamentary document comply with the formalities of execution? Did the testator have testamentary capacity? Was he subject to undue influence? Did the testator know and approve of the contents of the will? The answers to these questions will impact on the validity of a will.

Discrimination Because Of Sexual Orientation

Is it legal to disinherit someone because of his or her sexual orientation?

There are those who would argue that in Ontario, testamentary freedom is paramount. That means that, when making his will, the father had every right to be prejudiced, mean, whimsical or even cruel. After all, the argument goes, it’s the father’s money and he can do whatever he wants with it. Why should the law interfere with a person’s will if the law would permit the father to do what he wanted to do with his money during his lifetime? The father could have donated all of his money to charity before dying, or spent it all at the casino. There are many lawyers and academics who take this view. There are others who disagree.

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Estate Litigation

Interpreting a Will: Small Details, Large Consequences

Sometimes, people in second marriages who make wills balance two loyalties. On the one hand there are the children of the first marriage. On the other hand there is the new spouse. The road often travelled is to provide the spouse with a life interest in the estate assets. But, what does that mean? For example, who should pay the realty taxes or repairs? What about landscaping or utilities? If the intent was to provide the spouse with income to support her is she entitled to give that money away to someone else? Well – that depends on what the will says.

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Estate and Trusts

Trustbuster – The Rule in Saunders v Vautier

Trusts are often used to control children and grandchildren from the grave. Sometimes the will-maker (“Testator”) holds back the money until the beneficiary reaches a certain age. Other times the money is held back until the beneficiary graduates from college or gets married. Many a beneficiary resent the conditions attached to their inheritance and they wonder – can we “bust the trust”? Well the answer is maybe - if you fall into the Saunders v Vautier Rule.

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Estate Litigation

Have Technicalities Trumped Substance in Wills and Estates?

Our law values the right of the individual to decide what happens to their money after they die. It protects that right by ensuring that certain rules are followed when a person (the “Testator”) signs a Will. These rules are designed to avoid fraud. But what happens if those rules are not followed, but there is a virtual certainty that the Will in question reflects the wishes of the testator?

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abc of will challenges

The ABCs of a Will Challenge

“Unfairness” is the motivation many clients cite when they complain about a will. Unfortunately, unfairness is not a good enough reason for a judge to set aside a will. So what is a good reason? First, to make things a little easier, let’s introduce a key term when discussing wills. The person who makes a will is called a testator.

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Challenging the Wills of the Living

The traditional rule in Ontario is that one cannot challenge a will while the testator is still alive. However, in recent years, there have been some cases in which judges have expressed a willingness to adjudicate upon the validity of a will prior to the testator’s death. These cases might be mere anomalies or they might be signs that the general rule is weakening.

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Can domestic contracts protect the Deceased’s estate from dependants’ relief claims?

There is interplay between sections of the Family Law Act (“FLA”), and those of the Succession Law Reform Act (“SLRA”), in particular as it relates to the definition of “dependant”. That interplay may affect the second prong of the two prong test to determine who, in fact, is a dependant for the purposes of bringing a dependant’s support claim.The law is unclear on whether one may contract out of a dependant’s support claim by entering into a separation/domestic agreement upon the termination of a marriage or marriage-like relationship. The case law is very fact-specific, and below is a summary of some recent decisions.

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