Handwritten codicils to wills can be valid. But when suspicious circumstances exist, the onus shifts to the party seeking to prove the codicil. The proponent must prove, on a balance of probabilities, that the testator knew and approved the document and had testamentary capacity at signing.
The Ontario Court of Appeal’s decision in Schickedanz v. Schickedanz illustrates this burden in practice.
Elma Schickedanz signed a handwritten codicil on May 9, 2016, purporting to leave the family’s “home farm” to her daughter, Charlotte, instead of the equal division set out in Elma’s 2007 lawyer-drafted will. At her death, the home farm’s value was estimated at $20,000,000 and represented most of Elma’s wealth.
