There is a growing concern around predatory marriages, especially in regards to elderly relatives being taken advantage of. The court has addressed the issue of predatory marriages through the implementation of Bill 245, Accelerating Access to Justice Act, 2021. The Accelerating Access to Justice Act 2021 further amends the Succession Law Reform Act (SLRA). Section 15(a) and 16 of the SLRA previously included provisions that revoked wills based on marriage. Sections 15(a) and 16 of the SLRA are now repealed as of January 1, 2022, and section 17 of the SLRA states that wills are revoked under certain circumstances:

Revocation, change in circumstances
17 (1) Except as otherwise provided in this section, a will is not revoked by presumption of an intention to revoke it on the ground of a change in circumstances. R.S.O. 1990, c. S.26, s. 17 (1); 2021, c. 4, Sched. 9, s. 4 (1).
Exception on termination of marriage
(2) Except when a contrary intention appears by the will, where, after the testator makes a will, his or her marriage is terminated by a judgment absolute of divorce or is declared a nullity,
(a) a devise or bequest of a beneficial interest in property to his or her former spouse;
(b) an appointment of his or her former spouse as executor or trustee; and
(c) the conferring of a general or special power of appointment on his or her former spouse,
are revoked and the will shall be construed as if the former spouse had predeceased the testator. R.S.O. 1990, c. S.26, s. 17 (2) https://www.ontario.ca/laws/statute/90s26#BK17

Last week, at the Elder Law Day Conference I was fortunate to attend Professor Albert Oosterhoff of WEL Partners presentation entitled Cross-Canada Update on Predatory Marriages. During this presentation,  Mr. Oosterhoff expanded on the topic and provided further background on the update. Previously, under the common law, all wills were revoked through marriage. Wills are no longer revoked through marriage in the provinces of Alberta, British Columbia, Saskatchewan and Yukon territory. It is interesting to note that this legislation was never enacted in the province of Quebec.

While progress has been made with regard to legislation, Mr. Oosterhoff provided suggestions for the next steps that should be taken through legislation:
• strict obligations being imposed on marriage commissioners and solemnizers;
• the criteria for measuring the capacity to marry  should become stricter;
• individuals outside of the marriage should have the standing to contest a marriage entered into through fraud.

We will be following along with the legislative updates for predatory marriages and if the proposed steps are implemented through legislation.

Thanks for reading and have a great day,
Aanchal Bajaj