Wills, Estate and Trust Litigation Vancouver, BC
Since 1979, Friesen and Epp has been advising metro Vancouver families through complex wills, estate, and trust litigation proceedings. Our estate litigation group of experienced trial lawyers works closely with our estate planning, probate and corporate lawyers in devising practical solutions. This integration of litigation and planning and administration resources gives us a comprehensive ability to analyze and address every aspect of trust and estate litigation.
Friesen and Epp is commonly retained to handle the following matters:
1. Contesting the Validity of Wills and Estate Plans
Individuals often lose capacity at the end of life stages and can be more easily influenced particularly when they become dependent upon others. Difficult estate litigation cases often involve situations where estate plans have been altered during a time when the will-maker had diminished mental capacity and/or increased dependency on others leading to decisions not in keeping with plans made at an earlier time. At Friesen and Epp, we are well-acquainted with the hallmarks and dynamics of incapacity and undue influence. We represent clients seeking to overturn “last wills” or other estate planning documents on the basis of incapacity or undue influence as well as those wishing to uphold what they believe to be the will-maker’s wishes.
2. Wills Variation
For a variety of reasons, a will-maker may decide to cut out a son, daughter, or spouse from their estate plans or to favour some of their children to the exclusion of others. In BC, spouses and children of will-makers who find themselves in this situation can apply to court to ask that the will of their parent or spouse be “varied” or “rewritten” to adequately provide for them. Our estate litigation group represents clients on both sides of the coin.
3. Executors / Trustees/ Committees
We regularly represent executors (now called “personal representatives”) of estates, individual beneficiaries and charities, trustees, and committees appointed under the Patients Property Act in the context of disputes regarding trusts, gifts, and wills, estates, and incapacity. We have defended executors, trustees, and committees in situations where individuals and families have challenged or disputed the management of an estate. Other common types of proceedings which we deal with include:
- committee proceedings under the Patients Property Act
- proceedings to interpret ambiguous provisions in wills and trusts
- elder financial abuse claims
- passing of accounts and disputed fee requests
- cy pres settlements for charities or nonprofit organizations where such charities named as beneficiaries may have changed names or no longer exist
- the establishment of secret trusts and reforming defective trusts
- claims of constructive trusts or resulting trusts for work or money provided by one person to another
- “hotchpot” clauses in wills requiring a beneficiary to pay back loans to the estate
We have experience in representing charities to preserve their bequests and to set aside invalid instruments that would deprive them of gifts they should receive. We have litigated numerous cases concerning the validity of “inter vivos” (during the lifetime of the deceased) and testamentary transfers, including issues of due execution, testamentary capacity, undue influence, fraud, and mistake. We have dealt with cy pres applications, established trusts, litigated hotchpot issues, inter-jurisdictional conflict of laws issues, and virtually every kind of estate litigation issue one can imagine — and even some you never could have imagined (ask us!).
In many cases, business and estate disputes are tangled together particularly where a family business is passed on from one generation to the next. Unfortunately, problems can arise despite well-intentioned estate and business planning. Our estate litigation lawyers are well-equipped to deal with this types of succession disputes.
We deliver with accuracy and clarity. If you are in need of advice on any trust, estate and succession matters, we encourage you to contact us for a consultation to review your case.
