In Lam v. Law Estate, 2024 BCSC 1561, the plaintiff sought to vary her mother’s Will pursuant to s. 60 of the Wills, Estates and Succession Act, S.B.C. 2009, c. 13 [WESA].
Section 60 of the WESA provides that a court may vary a will if the testator does not make adequate provision for the proper maintenance and support of the spouse or children, and that the court may make an order that is just and equitable in the circumstances.
The Court found that the plaintiff daughter had received about $630,000 through inter vivos gifts and her mother’s Will, while the respondent son had received gifts totalling more than $2.2 million.
The daughter offered anecdotal evidence regarding her mother’s preference of sons over daughters, and her mother’s belief that sons were entitled to most or all of a parent’s estate. The Court found that this evidence was credible and sound, and that the mother’s biases influenced her estate plan.
The Court also found that both the son and the daughter were dedicated and helpful to their mother in her later years.
The Court considered the surrounding circumstances, and found that the mother’s estate plan was not acceptable by contemporary societal standards, and was therefore not adequate, just or equitable.
Accordingly, the Court varied the mother’s Will to increase the daughter’s share of a rental property from 50% to 85%. However, the Court noted that this result paled in comparison to the total value of all the gifts and benefits that the son had received from the mother during her lifetime.
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