Controversial ruling in Spence unlikely to apply to many other estates cases

Posted in Articles, Canada, Law, Media Archive on 2015-02-24 23:31Z by Steven

Controversial ruling in Spence unlikely to apply to many other estates cases

AdvocateDaily.com: Canada’s Legal News
2015-02-24

Lisa Laredo

The court decision in Spence v. BMO Trust Company, 2015 ONSC 615 (CanLII) has led to concerns about court interference and uncertainty in estate planning.

An Ontario court judge held a will to be invalid due to a perceived intolerance, based on witness testimony, that while the testator had in his will disinherited his daughter because they were “estranged” and had no relationship, he had actually disinherited her for having a mixed-race child.

It is recognized at law that provisions of a will that are discriminatory on protected human rights grounds (race, gender, etc.) have been deemed to be against public policy and can be found invalid…

Read the entire article here.

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