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Wills and estates 2026 BCCA 192

Rehak v. MacDougall

Court
British Columbia Court of Appeal

The chambers judge did not commit reversible error: she acted within her discretion to determine the petition summarily, found the attesting witnesses credible and their evidence outweighed an equivocal 60% forensic opinion, and correctly concluded the alleged suspicious circumstances were not sufficiently well grounded to displace the statutory presumption of validity; accordingly the will was properly pronounced in solemn form and the appeal is dismissed.

Source excerpt

  • Proof of will in solemn form
  • Suspicious circumstances and burden of proof
  • Summary disposition on affidavit evidence
  • Handwriting expert evidence
  • Attesting witness credibility
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Wills and estates 2026 BCSC 738

Tam Estate

Court
Supreme Court of British Columbia

The application to remove the executor was dismissed because the delays and conduct did not meet the established grounds for removal (no endangerment, dishonesty, incapacity, or want of reasonable fidelity proven), the testator's appointment should be respected and the majority of beneficiaries support the executor, and remaining administrative tasks are limited and capable of completion by the current executor; however, the executor must produce specified documents relating to the joint account to allow inquiry into potential estate claims.

Source excerpt

  • Removal of executor
  • Appointment of substitute executor
  • Production of documents
  • Passing of accounts
  • Joint account presumption
  • Tax/clearance certificate
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Wills and estates 2026 BCSC 744

Re: Boisvert Estate

Court
Supreme Court of British Columbia

The court held that costs of the s.33 application are awarded to Mr. Amies on a Scale B basis and clarified that the costs award is against Ms. Cory Leigh Goddard personally (in her capacity as an opposing descendant/beneficiary) and not against Mr. Robin Goddard or the Estate; payment timing is governed by R.14-1(13) and may be deferred by written agreement, and the judge declined to revisit the substantive merits absent proper appeal.

Source excerpt

  • S.33 wesa (vesting of estate property)
  • S.34 wesa (registrable charge)
  • Administrator indemnity for legal fees
  • Court-awarded costs (scale b)
  • Res judicata/clarification of costs
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Wills and estates 2026 BCSC 672

DeCotiis v. DeCotiis Estate

Court
Supreme Court of British Columbia

The prior DeCotiis disclosure order with an express temporal limitation is final and bars production of the Lee and Geddes reports (they post‑date the cutoff) so issue estoppel/abuse of process prevents relitigation; conversely, Documents 673 and 682 fall within the previously ordered scope and the wills exception overrides asserted litigation or third‑party privilege, so the redacted documents must be produced unredacted within seven days.

Source excerpt

  • Wills exception
  • Solicitor-client privilege
  • Litigation privilege
  • Document disclosure
  • Res judicata
  • Abuse of process
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Trusts and fiduciary duties 2026 BCCA 149

Yurkiw Estate v. Yurkiw

Court
British Columbia Court of Appeal

For a straightforward estate with two vested beneficiaries the proprietary-rights approach governs: beneficiaries are entitled to trust documents in the trustee's possession subject to recognized exceptions (e.g. solicitor-client privilege, truly transitory/duplicative records); the chambers judge did not err in ordering production and in finding non-compliance, but the May 20, 2025 order's requirement that transitory deleted or inaccessible records be excused only if the trustee had previously announced non-retention was improper and is substituted to permit exemption where records are dupli…

Source excerpt

  • Trustee disclosure obligations
  • Beneficiaries' right to inspect trust documents
  • Solicitor-client privilege and redactions
  • Electronic records retention and transitory records
  • Res judicata/issue estoppel
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Wills and estates 2026 BCSC 641

Marshall Estate

Court
Supreme Court of British Columbia

On the balance of probabilities the court accepted contemporaneous solicitor records, multiple private meetings, a geriatric expert report and medical records showing the testator understood the nature and consequences of a will and the assets and natural objects of bounty; there was no credible evidence of domination or undue influence by beneficiaries and no well-grounded suspicious circumstances to rebut the presumption of validity; summary determination was therefore appropriate and the 2015 will was proven in solemn form and probate granted to the named executors.

Source excerpt

  • Testamentary capacity
  • Undue influence
  • Solemn form probate
  • Conversion of petition to action/hybrid procedure
  • Costs and indemnity
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Wills and estates 2026 BCSC 597

Dhillon Estate (Re)

Court
Supreme Court of British Columbia

The Opposing Children pursued serious, unsubstantiated allegations of undue influence, lack of testamentary capacity and elder abuse despite early disclosure of the solicitor's detailed file that dispelled those suspicions; their conduct was unreasonable and reprehensible, so costs follow the event and special costs are warranted to punish and deter that conduct. The Beneficiary Children and the Administrator recover their costs as special costs from the Opposing Children, to be assessed.

Source excerpt

  • Probate
  • Will validity
  • Testamentary capacity
  • Undue influence
  • Special costs
  • Costs follow the event
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Wills and estates 2026 BCSC 598

Tritt v. Tritt

Court
Supreme Court of British Columbia

The application was dismissed because the solicitor's file was not shown to be relevant to the distinct legal issue of capacity to enter a spousal relationship (which has a lower threshold than testamentary or POA capacity), and the executor's authority under s.142(1) WESA does not permit unrestricted waiver of solicitor-client privilege or production of a non-party solicitor's file for purposes unrelated to administering the estate; Rule 7-1(18) requires relevance which was not established.

Source excerpt

  • Standing
  • Capacity to enter relationship
  • Production of documents from non-party
  • Wills exception
  • Executor authority to waive privilege
  • Costs
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Wills and estates 2026 BCCA 140

Aulinger v. Oda

Court
British Columbia Court of Appeal

Because the 1995 joint handwritten will and surrounding circumstances created ambiguities that reasonably required litigation to determine validity, and because the litigation was necessitated by the testator's conduct, the court exercised the modern approach to estate costs and ordered that all parties recover reasonable indemnity costs from the estate.

Source excerpt

  • Validity of will
  • Indemnity costs
  • Standing to vary a will
  • Probate
  • Joint wills
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Wills and estates 2026 BCSC 489

Peterson (Re)

Court
Supreme Court of British Columbia

On the balance of probabilities the Physical Will represented the Deceased's deliberate, fixed and final testamentary intention; the Digital Will lacked an air of finality and post‑creation evidence showed the Deceased continued to contemplate further steps; accordingly the Court admitted the Physical Will under s.58 WESA, dismissed the Alzheimer Society's application, and appointed the PGT as administrator with will annexed.

Source excerpt

  • Admission of non‑compliant wills (s.58 wesa)
  • Testamentary intention
  • Electronic wills and digital evidence
  • Timing and modification metadata
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About this LexChat collection

Canada decisions are organised by court, judge, legal area and indexed issue so a practitioner can move from a proposition to a citable authority with the surrounding context intact.

Source links and collection timestamps are retained alongside the indexed records.