Announcement

Collapse
No announcement yet.

Wills in Ontario

Collapse
X
 
  • Filter
  • Time
  • Show
Clear All
new posts

  • Wills in Ontario

    Can an ex spouse or the children from previous marriage be able to contest a Will from the spouse of a deseased man?

    The spouse and children have agreements to what spousal support & child support to be received to a certain date, and all insurances are ready in case the man is dead.

  • #2
    If the ex spouse still owes money then he has to have life insurance in the amount stated for his ongoing obligations. For instance, if remaining cs is $15,000 they have to have enough life insurance to cover it. If they don’t then you can go after the estate.

    If there is no remaining obligations and they die and leave everything to someone else, they are allowed to do this.

    Comment


    • #3
      Rockscan, my husband has all the obligated insurances for the ex wife as he still pays her spousal support and he also has the obligated insurances for the 2 children as they are still receiving his child support.

      What do you mean by your last paragraph?

      Comment


      • #4
        The last paragraph meant if he has any additional insurance he can name any beneficiary he wants.

        As for your question about contesting the will, they can try but they won’t be successful. This is why they say to have a will when you die. We asked this question of our estate lawyer as my husband disinherited his kids. Lawyer said they can try to contest it but they will lose as estate law in Ontario is clear. Unless he has a competency issue when he signed his will, his wishes are set.

        Comment


        • #5
          Thanks for the clarification.

          Comment


          • #6
            Actually Rocksan, I’m not sure if you are correct. The ex and children can contest a will. The ex may not have as good a chance of being successful but the children have an excellent chance. According to my lawyer it is very difficult to legally exclude your children from your will. They have both a legal and ethical right to any inheritance from their parents. The court in this case actually considers their ethical rights. My lawyer went in to say that in order to exclude your children you need to write into the will the reasons for doing this. When it is contested the judge will determine whether or not these reasons are just enough to exclude your children. Even with the written reasons a judge may disagree and make an order to the contrary. By excluding your children from your will all you have done is gauranteed contenscious litigation after your death.
            I did find several cases to back this up. One in BC where a wealthy East Indian man left all his money to his sons and excluded his wife and adult daughters. The judge ordered monies to go to his wife and daughters. I’m on my phone now so can’t attach this case law

            Comment


            • #7
              Wills in Ontario

              Each province is different and family lawyers are not estate lawyers. Yes they CAN dispute the will but it is not always successful. And yes you are correct the language has to outline some specifics. I didn’t get into that detail as my statement was merely yes you can write them out of the will. For my husband he has outlined it to leave something for any grandchildren but nothing for his kids. The lawyer said this covers the next of kin argument and if he dies and they come after me I can clearly outline they did not have a relationship with him.

              The estate lawyer also said that he has come across many judges in these cases who look down on descendants who have cut off relationships with parents and then come fighting for an estate when they die.

              Do not ask a family lawyer about wills and estates. All due respect to family lawyers but they are not experts in estate law. It is the same as asking your family lawyer to look through the books of your ex’s company to see where money is. When it comes to something that specialized it is best to speak to an expert. (And I say this after my husbands lawyer said it was great that our financial advisor and our accountant said what they did about my husband’s RESP but he was the lawyer who battles in court over them and the judge backed this up when he said my husband’s RESP is his to use for his share only when the finance people said kids.)

              ETA: a quick google search also backs this up. Ontario is pretty strict with estates. Unless you were a dependent before the death, you have no claim to the estate. Spouses are considered dependents but only if they are married. Legal agreements for spousal support are considered a debt against the estate. BC and Alberta are not this strict and ALL children and spouses are eligible for inheritance. Alberta also protects adult children upon the death of a parent.
              Last edited by rockscan; 07-25-2020, 08:11 PM.

              Comment


              • #8
                I was told by a friend who received advice from estate lawyer (she has substantial money) that it is good to leave a small amount to the person you do not want to benefit from your estate, as opposed to not leaving them anything. This way, the disgruntled person cannot claim they were not included in the will... they just received a small amount. Best to consult with estate lawyer and check out CanLii independently for case law.

                Comment


                • #9
                  Originally posted by arabian View Post
                  I was told by a friend who received advice from estate lawyer (she has substantial money) that it is good to leave a small amount to the person you do not want to benefit from your estate, as opposed to not leaving them anything. This way, the disgruntled person cannot claim they were not included in the will... they just received a small amount. Best to consult with estate lawyer and check out CanLii independently for case law.

                  Our estate lawyer said something similar hence the “leave some money to potential grandchildren” decision.

                  Comment

                  Our Divorce Forums
                  Forums dedicated to helping people all across Canada get through the separation and divorce process, with discussions about legal issues, parenting issues, financial issues and more.
                  Working...
                  X