Contested wills

Total 119 Posts

Increase In House Value Means $1.4 million Gift to SPCA

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For many people who own the house in which they live, their home is the most valuable asset in their estate. In many communities in Canada, house values have steadily increased over the last several years and particularly during the COVID-19 pandemic. This means that the value of an estate may be much greater at the time of the testator’s death than when the testator prepared and signed the last….

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Capacity Law, Charitable Giving, Contested wills, Estate Litigation

No Signature, No Problem

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In Bishop Estate v. Sheardown, 2021 BCSC 1571, the Supreme Court of British Columbia gave effect to a Will the testator had failed to execute before her death. Facts: Marilyn Bishop died in British Columbia in the summer of 2020 at the age of 76. She had a prior Will signed in 2014, which named her husband as her executor and primary beneficiary, and in the event he predeceased her,….

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Contested wills

A Tale of Two Versions: The Court of Appeal Invalidates a Will

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My colleague Joanna Lindenberg and I had previously blogged on the case of Bayford v. Boese (the decision and the costs decision, respectively) where the court upheld the validity of a challenged will (the second of two ‘versions’ of the same will). However, in Bayford v. Boese, 2021 ONCA 442 the Court of Appeal has set aside the lower court’s decision and invalided the will. The deceased Bruce Boese had….

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Contested wills, Estate Litigation, Executors, Wills

Legislative Amendments Proposed in Light of Calmusky

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On March 16, 2020, the Superior Court of Ontario released its decision in Calmusky v Calmusky. In Calmusky, the Court applied the presumption of resulting trust to a RIF that was designated to a particular beneficiary. The beneficiary was unable to rebut the presumption, and the Court ordered that funds from the RIF were to be paid to the estate. For a more detailed discussion on Calmusky, see Demetre Vasilounis’….

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Contested wills, Contracts, Estate Administration, Estate Litigation, Estate Planning, Executors, Investments, Joint Tenancy, Resulting Trust, Trusts

When Are You Married?

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Most know that you don’t have to be legally married to have a “spouse” for income tax purposes, although legal marriage will work. If you have been living with someone in a conjugal relationship for 12 months or more regardless of your sex at birth, you will be considered spouses for tax purposes. You can ignore the 12 month requirement if you are living together and you are both parents….

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Contested wills, Courts, Estate Administration, Estate Litigation, Estate Planning, Family Conflict, Spouse, Testamentary Capacity, Uncategorized, Wills

Do Personalty Clauses Cover All Personalty?

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Today’s blog was written by guest blogger, Yvonne Mazurak, Articling Student at  Fasken LLP. With today being Black Friday, it seemed appropriate to write a post about things. Afterall, many of us will likely spend some time this weekend taking advantage of Black Friday deals and buying things for our loved ones (and possibly for ourselves as well). Personal items, or personalty, can be bequeathed to beneficiaries through the use….

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Contested wills, Estate Planning
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