In the recent Alberta decision of Duhn Estate, 2021
ABQB 35, the Court of Queen's Bench has confirmed that, absent
a sufficient evidentiary basis, the Court will not displace a
testator's right to keep her pre-death financial life private
and confidential.
The applicants in Duhn Estate were two of the
Testator's children and beneficiaries of her estate. The
applicants sought a full financial disclosure regarding inter
vivos transfers of money and real and personal property during
the last four years of her life. The value of the Testator's
estate had decreased significantly in the four years preceding her
death, which the Court noted raised prime facie concerns.
The applicants alleged that the Testator may have lacked capacity,
was unduly influenced, and that certain transactions may have been
made without her knowledge.
