Hull & Hull LLP
By Suzana Popovic-Montag
March 18th, 2026
Testing the Limits of No Contest Clauses: Can a Beneficiary Be Disinherited for Bringing a Successful Action?
When valid, no contest clauses can be a powerful tool for discouraging estate litigation. Typically, these clauses threaten to disinherit beneficiaries who challenge the validity of the testator’s final will. However, a broadly worded no contest clause could also be triggered by other kinds of estate litigation.
For example, an application by a beneficiary to remove the executor appointed by the testator’s will could engage a no contest clause, as illustrated by the recent decision of the Newfoundland and Labrador Supreme Court in Franklin v Franklin. In that case the application to remove the executor was finally dismissed. Had the application succeeded, though, it would have raised an interesting question— would the no contest clause still be enforceable under those circumstances?
Successful Estate Litigation and No Contest Clauses in Canada
Canadian courts have not yet had the opportunity to address whether a no contest clause will be triggered by a successful application to remove the estate’s executor. Having said that, Canadian jurisprudence has clearly established that a no contest clause will be invalid if a will is successfully challenged. On a broader note, Feeney’s Canadian Law of Wills also states that if the condition articulated in a no contest clause is not void and a beneficiary successfully disputes the will, they “should not lose the gift as it would be contrary to public policy to penalize the legatee for bringing a successful action.”
Certainly, if it would be contrary to public policy to penalize a beneficiary for bringing a successful action, it could also be argued that it would be contrary to public policy to penalize a beneficiary for successfully litigating an issue pertaining to estate administration, such as bringing a successful application to remove the estate executor.
Beneficiaries Should Not Be Disinherited for Successful Litigation
There are two premises upon which it can be argued that a beneficiary should not be disinherited for successfully bringing a claim related to estate administration:
- First, beneficiaries must be free to invoke the assistance of the courts to enforce the rights conferred upon them by the testator’s will, notwithstanding the inclusion of a no contest clause in the will.
- Second, it would be contrary to public policy to use a broadly worded no contest clause to penalize a beneficiary for bringing a successful action.
