Those who have read
Amy Mortimore's earlier blog on spousal status may recall
that spousal status is a "threshold question" in most
estate litigation because being recognized as a "spouse"
typically allows the person a claim or sometimes a greater claim on
the estate.
Under WESA, a person is considered to be a spouse if the person
was married to the deceased at the time of the death or if the
person had lived with the deceased in a "marriage-like
relationship" for at least 2 years at the time of the
death.
The BC Supreme Court recently released its first decision under
WESA with respect to the determination of a "marriage-like
relationship". In Re Richardson Estate, 2014 BCSC 2162,
Philip Richardson (the "Deceased") died leaving no will.
Nancy Chen applied for a declaration that she was the
Deceased's spouse and the sole beneficiary of his estate
pursuant to the intestacy rules under WESA. The Deceased's
brother, Stephen Richardson, disputed that Nancy lived in
