British Columbia Estate Litigation, 2nd Edition

Spearheaded by estate litigation veterans Mark Weintraub, K.C., and Amy Mortimore, K.C., and featuring content from expert contributing authors, British Columbia Estate Litigation, 2nd Edition, provides a concise and thorough overview of the main issues that British Columbia practitioners might face in the conduct of an estate litigation matter.

This second edition builds on the first edition, and provides updated case law and further analysis of the law in key areas, historical perspective, and useful strategic and procedural insights. It is intended to be a consultative text referenced frequently over the course of a file.

Areas of discussion include wills and trusts variations, resulting trust disputes, will challenges based on incapacity and undue influence, unjust enrichment, applications for trustee directions, removal of personal representative, passing of accounts, jurisdictional issues in the conflicts of law context, privilege, presumption of death, the court’s curative powers, and rectification of wills.

Included in the Introduction is a comprehensive review and summary of resources available to an estate litigation practitioner as well as the first published discussion of the possible application of the good conscience substantive trust to British Columbia wills variation cases.

What’s New In This Edition

• Comprehensively revised with legislative and case law developments since the previous edition published 5 years ago
• Analysis of caselaw related to specific sections of the Wills and Estates Act (WESA), for example:
  • s. 58: broader application to informal and electronic documents, factors courts weigh in recognizing non-compliant documents as testamentary, and clearer articulation of the limits of s. 58
  • s. 59: the court’s ability to add or delete words where drafting errors or misunderstanding of instructions are proven, greater reliance on extrinsic evidence (for example, solicitor’s notes and correspondence), and expanded guidance on the executor’s role and costs when rectification is sought
  • ss. 158-159: detailed grounds for removal (incapacity, deadlock, conflicts of interest, undue delay, imprudent investment, and breach of trust) and an emphasis on removal as a last resort where no suitable alternative exists
• Updated guidance on estrangement, adult children’s moral claims, and disentitling conduct
• Expanded commentary on the presumption of death, solicitor-client privilege after death, and informal vs. formal passings of accounts

Who Should Read This Book

• Wills, estates & trusts lawyers and family lawyers who will find this informative compendium to be an invaluable resource when advising and representing clients
• Law clerks and paralegals who will refer to this resource regularly when dealing with estate administration issues
• Law schools/law libraries who will find it to be a valuable reference for law students, faculty and other borrowers

Contributing Authors
Gordon T. Behan
Sunny Chiu
Alison L. Colpitts
Emily Davies
Jessica Dorfmann
Daniel Gorelov
Lauren Liang
Shiona Nickel
Aaron Pearl, TEP
Zachary Murphy-Rogers, TEP
Michael Scott, TEP
Polly Storey
Richard Weiland, TEP
Geoffrey White, K.C.
Braeden Rahn, TEP