What I’m Reading: Interesting Estate Litigation Articles for June 2021

The following is a roundup of noteworthy articles published this month on estate litigation and related issues:

  1. Stan Rule at Sabey Rule comments on a case from the Nova Scotia Court of Appeal which held that allowing independent adult children to apply to vary their parents’ wills (which you can do in British Columbia) does not offend the s. 7 of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms (overturning the lower court’s decision): http://rulelaw.blogspot.com/2021/06/nova-scotia-court-of-appeal-allows.html
  2. Suzana Popovic-Montag at Hull & Hull LLP (in Ontario) identifies the dangers of using an online will kit to write your will: https://hullandhull.com/2021/06/the-simplicity-of-online-will-kits-is-their-biggest-shortcoming/
  3. Janis Ko at Onyx Law discusses when the court may order an interim distribution to a beneficiary from an estate where there is an ongoing wills variation proceeding: https://onyxlaw.ca/can-beneficiaries-receive-interim-distribution-pending-wills-variation-claim/
  4. Kimberley A. Whaley at WEL Partners (Toronto) posts a link to a paper that she co-authored on the role of the medical expert in estate litigation, with a focus on claims of undue influence. A link to the blog post can be found here: https://welpartners.com/blog/2021/06/published-paper-susceptibility-to-undue-influence-the-role-of-the-medical-expert-in-estate-litigation/ The paper can be found here: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/07067437211020616
  5. Joanna Lindenberg at de Vries Litigation LLP (Ontario) considers an Ontario case where beneficiaries acted unreasonably by raising over 300 objections to a trustee’s accounts, and as a result the trustee was awarded $325,000 in costs: https://devrieslitigation.com/cost-consequences-of-conduct/

Happy reading!