Davies Family Law
By Jared Davies
August 7th, 2022
Conditional testamentary gifts: Bequests challenged in Court for “public policy concerns”
Estate law and family law often intersect in the process of drafting Wills. After all, one of the focuses of Will-drafting is the process of trying to figure out how best to look after one’s family after they are gone. In some cases, however, families have more animosity than others, resulting in precarious conditional gifts that often must be litigated in court.
For example, believe it or not, some testators find their Will a ‘convenient place to try and destroy a marriage of one of their family members’.
Several cases have demonstrated that testators use their Wills to motivate behaviours that offend public policy; for instance, conditional bequests which may directly invoke or incite divorce or separation. In these cases, the condition is effectively voided and the beneficiary receives the bequest outright.
