Substantial Compliance – Fixing a Defective Will After Death Part 3 In the first 2 parts of this commentary on the Meyer case ( Part 1 and Part 2 ) which primarily discusses a surrogate signing a will, we saw how a “Probate” application failed. However when one looks at the case from a present day […]
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A Promise to Make a Gift Part 2 In Part 1 of this blog we looked at the Meyer case and examined getting someone else to sign the will on behalf of a disabled Testator. It was part of an application for “Probate” that failed. And what of the written promise to transfer the house […]
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Part 1 The Succession Law Reform Act, section 4 (1) (a) sets out one of the basic requirements of a valid Will, specifically “…a Will is not valid unless it is signed by the testator or by some other person in his or her presence and by his or her direction;”. Testator is the formal […]
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There are many areas of law that recommend independent legal advice. Independent legal advice or ILA is one of the few things in life that exactly describes itself! It is legal advice given, independent of formal representation. Most commonly, where a person is not formally represented by legal counsel it is recommended that they obtain […]
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Every November the Ontario Bar Association, an organization of 16,000 lawyers, judges, notaries, law teachers, and students, celebrates Make a Will Month. It is an opportunity for members of the legal community to help educate the public about the importance of having a will and having it done by a lawyer. This year, we have Fred […]
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For a Will to be valid, some minimal factors need to be present. Most of them are just common sense. These include the basic concept that the Will Maker aka the Testator needs to understand what they are doing and cannot be forced into making a Will. Formalities under the Succession Law Reform Act also […]
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It makes common sense that a Will only applies to the net assets owned by the Will Maker, aka the testator, that he or she had on the date of their death. However, it is not unusual for even experienced Wills and Estates lawyer to ignore the effect of the Succession Law Reform Act section […]
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A number of years ago we touched on the complicated area of what your executor also known as an estate trustee will be paid for fulfilling their role in administering an estate. In the 2022 decision by the Honourable Mr. Justice F. Bruce Fitzpatrick of the Ontario Superior Court of Justice in Winkworth v. Murray, […]
Read MorePart 2 In part 1 we began our exploration of the law of rectification British Columbia style as set out in the case of Simpson v. Zaste. Part 1 Rectification B.C. Style The court was of the view that the Will failed to accurately reflect what the will maker husband’s true intention was. There had […]
Read MorePart 1 One would think a Will is a Will and that we are all bound to follow just the words found in the Will itself. However, the legal system is more flexible than that and in limited circumstances can fix or rectify a Will that does not address obvious drafting problems. In the 2022 […]
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