Estate Litigation
Can Children Challenge a Will on Fairness in Ontario?
Most provinces, including Ontario, will not allow non-dependent adult children to challenge a parent’s will on the basis of fairness. However, section 60 of British Columbia’s Wills, Estates and Succession Act, S.B.C. 2009, c. 13, states that if a will-maker dies...
Creating Multiple Wills in Ontario
The creation of multiple wills may seem complicated during the estate planning process, however it offers many advantages as a tool to handle different assets and to avoid certain fees. Let’s take a look at some of the basics regarding...
Can You Execute Your Will in Ontario by Blinking?
A decision in the Texas court of appeal has raised some interesting discussions regarding the execution of wills. In Estate of Luce, the Texas court of appeal found that even though the testator drafted his will only by blinking, the...
Predatory Marriages: The Growing Trend in Ontario
Elderly persons are living longer and as a result, a new litigation concern for the aging population has emerged: predatory marriages. Impacting wills and estates, and creating an emotionally stressful situation for family members, predatory marriages are a difficult situation...
Introducing Medical Records in a Will Challenge
Can you use medical records to prove that a family member lacked mental capacity when they made their Will? In cases where a Will is being challenged on the basis that the will-maker lacked capacity, litigants will frequently attempt to...
Incapacity is Not Synonymous with Dementia
What is Capacity? A drafting wills lawyer is tasked with the role of carrying out a legal assessment of their client's capacity to make a will. In Ontario, to have capacity to make a will, one must have the ability...
Multiple Wills in Ontario: Re Milne Revisited
The Divisional Court recently allowed the appeal in the matter of Milne Estate (Re), 2019 ONSC 579, providing a sigh of relief for estate planning lawyers across the Province. The Milne case deals with the validity of multiple wills and...
Resealing of Foreign Orders Appointing Guardians
This blog was written in collaboration with David Morgan Smith at Hull and Hull LLP. In some cases, an incapable person residing outside of Canada has assets in Canada. Can a guardian appointed outside of Canada have access to the...
What happens when people die without wills in place?
Despite many people claiming to be aware of the importance of proper estate planning, nearly half of Canadian adults report not having estate planning documents in place. Ontario adults who die without the appropriate wills and other important documents lined up will have...
Are you properly prepared to challenge a will?
Losing a loved one is understandably a very difficult and emotional time for most Ontario residents. Unfortunately, whenever there are disputes that occur in the aftermath of a loved one's passing, this can ratchet up tension and stress to unimaginable...
