This week's Court of Appeal decisions covered a range of
subjects including contracts, torts, civil procedure, and wills and
estates. A quick note of congratulations to our partners, Lou
Brzezinski and Chad Kopach who successfully represented the
respondents in Roopchand v Chau.
The two most notable substantive decisions this week were two
wills and estates matters. In Spence v BMO Trust
Co., the question was whether a bequest could be voided on
public policy grounds because the disappointed heir (the daughter)
alleged that the true motivation for being cut out of the will by
her father was racism (she had fathered a child with a person of a
different skin colour). The Court decided that it would be
dangerous to go behind the stated reason of the testator in the
will, which was that father and daughter had grown apart.
Accordingly, the father's decision should be respected.
However, the Court went on to clearly state, albeit in obiter, that
even if the father had
