The most valuable assets in the estate are not always the ones that would fetch the biggest price.
Over my many years of estates law practice, I have seen plenty of families tear themselves apart over some of the big-ticket items you might expect to find in a valuable estate – think cottages, family homes and company shares, not to mention good old-fashioned piles of cash.
But in my experience, some of the most bitter estate fights I have ever witnessed revolve around items that would be utterly worthless to anyone outside the family.
That’s what seems to have happened in a recent case that went all the way to the B.C. Court of Appeal and shows no signs of stopping any time soon.
At the heart of the dispute is a ring owned by the deceased, which was made for her by her late husband out of a metal bolt and was never even mentioned in her will.
The key players are her son and daughter, whose already tense relationship seems to have worsened after their 95-year-old mother’s death, when they were appointed as co-executors of the estate.
Unable to cooperate, the brother agreed to step down as co-trustee, as long as his sister – who claimed to have been gifted the ring by the mother late in her life – passed it on to a third sibling.
Ultimately, the appeal court panel upheld the trial judge’s decision to award the ring to the third sibling, on the basis that the mother lacked capacity to gift it to the sister in her dying days.
I dread to think how much the court battle has cost the parties in this case. And they’re not even done. Although the panel dismissed the appeal relating to the ring, they sent the matter back to the trial court for a fresh hearing on costs.
In some cases, it can feel as though beneficiaries are destined for a clash over their inheritance, but there are steps testators can take to reduce the chances of a messy and expensive legal fight after they’re gone.
By turning your mind to the possessions that are most likely to be contested by beneficiaries and spelling out your intentions for them in your will, you can nip a lot of these issues in the bud. This case is a useful reminder that it’s not always the most expensive items that are most prized by surviving friends and families, so it’s important to remember to account for those of considerable sentimental value too.
An experienced lawyer can help ensure your wishes are accurately reflected in your will, and once it’s executed, you may want to communicate with beneficiaries about why you made each decision, so there are no big shocks once the times comes to administer your estate.
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