Estate Planning

High Moral Obligation Owed to a Spouse

By Hull & Hull LLP

There is a tension in the case law between respecting the rights of testators to freely dispose of their estates upon death, and ensuring that a testator's dependants are provided for in an adequate manner. Past blogs and podcasts on our website have explored this tension. 

In a recent decision out of New Brunswick, Johnson v. Johnson Estate, the court held that a testator had failed to meet his high moral obligation towards his wife of 45 years. Prior to his death, the testator had executed a Will in which he left his entire estate to his eldest son, subject to a life interest in the marital home in favour of his wife for as long as she chose to reside there. If the wife left the marital home, it would be sold and she would be entitled to half of the net proceeds. Given the little provision made for her, the wife commenced claims pursuant to New Brunswick's Marital Property Act and the Provision for Dependants Act. 

The Court ultimately awarded the wife the marital home, along with its contents and four vehicles, and certain sums of money from various RRSPs and bank accounts. The Court found that the testator's distribution of his estate further to his Will did not reflect the very high moral obligation that society would expect of a husband towards his dependant wife of 45 years. In the Court's opinion, society would have expected the testator to leave the bulk (if not all) of his estate to his spouse. In this case, the Court ruled that testamentary freedom had to yield to the interests of a dependant and what is adequate provision for their support. 

Thanks for reading,

Bianca La Neve

Bianca V. La Neve - Click here for more information on Bianca La Neve.

Full post as published by Toronto Estate Law Blog on November 26, 2009 (boomark / email).