It’s not every day that songs feature a nod towards estate planning and litigation. However, a song on Taylor Swift’s latest album allows us to debunk some common estate myths (at least as they apply in Ontario).

Track 3 on the album “Midnights (3AM edition” features a viral hit called Anti-Hero. It has the following lyrics:

I have this dream my daughter-in-law kills me for the money
She thinks I left them in the will
The family gathers ’round and reads it and then someone screams out
“She’s laughing up at us from Hell”

The Reading of the Will

It a common scenario in movies and TV shows that a family will gather around at a lawyer’s office and the will is read out so that everyone can find out what they will inherit.

The reality in Ontario is that there is no entitlement for a “reading of the will”. Generally speaking, beneficiaries under a will that is probated will receive a copy or an excerpt of the portion of the will that outlines their entitlement when an application for a Certificate of Appointment is served upon them. As well, any member of the public is also welcome to request a copy of a probated will from the court.

The Slayer Rule

Although in this case it appears that the daughter-in-law was excluded under the will, the common law criminal forfeiture rule or the “slayer rule” exists to protect individuals in just these circumstances. 

Affirmed in the case of Oldfield v. Transamerica Life Insurance Co. of Canada, 2002 SCC 22, the slayer rule holds that a criminal shall not be permitted to profit from their crimes.

There are three different approaches to dealing with this situation when a wrongdoer is still set to benefit under the will of someone they were involved in the death of:

1. The deemed death approach: In this case, the court interprets the will based on the wrongdoer having predeceased the testator;
2. The literal reading of the will approach: The theory behind the literal approach is that the testator’s will only provides for a gift over to the alternative beneficiary in the event that the primary beneficiary actually predeceases the testator, but not in cases where the primary beneficiary is disentitled or barred from taking due to public policy. In such a case, the result is an intestacy.
3.  The implied intention approach: A court will attempt to determine the testator’s intention when the result of excluding the wrongdoer would result in an intestacy.

Rest assured that if you fear your daughter-in-law will kill you for the money, we are here to ensure the criminal forfeiture rule protects your estate after your death.

Thanks for reading. Mark Lahn.