5 Children; 4 Mothers; 1 Man; and 1 Estate. The Complexities of Wills & Estate Litigation.
5 Children; 4 Mothers; 1 Man;1 Estate and the complexities of Wills & Estate litigation.
Wills & Estate Litigation is a highly emotional field of law as it often entails one sibling fighting for his or her rights, to the detriment of other siblings.
Often, there will be cases where the adopted children are involved and children from other marriages. The recent case of Raye v Phillip Estate, 2021 BCSC 387, was particularly complex. The case involved the adult children of Mr. Leopold Phillip, deceased, who passed away intestate (aka without a Will). As Madam Justice Norell states:
The first application is brought in the civil action commenced by Ms. Patricia Raye (“Patricia”) against the estate of Mr. Phillip, and Ms. Renee Phillip…
Renee brings an application pursuant to Rule 9-6 of the Supreme Court Civil Rules, B.C. Reg. 168/2009 for summary dismissal of Patricia’s claim on the sole ground that Patricia has no standing to bring the action…[and that] Patricia has no claim to an interest in the land, as required by s. 215 of the Land Title Act, RSBC 1996, c. 250 [LTA].
The second application is brought by Patricia…to be granted administration of Mr. Phillip’s estate…
The third application is brought by Denise in the same estate proceeding, seeking an order that she be appointed as the administrator of the estate. Both of the applications for appointment as administrator are brought pursuant to ss. 130 and 132 of the Wills, Estates and Succession Act, S.B.C. 2009, c. 13 [WESA].
The two other adult children of Mr. Phillip are Mr. Jason Phillip (“Jason”) and Ms. Avar Brown (“Avar”).
Denise, who is the oldest and lives in Ontario, is the child of Mr. Phillip’s first relationship.
Patricia and Jason, who live in B.C., are the children of his second relationship.
Avar, who lives in Trinidad, is the child of his third relationship.
Renee, who lives in B.C., is the child of his fourth relationship,
The Court sought to determine (a) Who should be appointed as the administrator of the estate; (b) Does Patricia have standing to advance the civil action, and should the action be dismissed; and (c) Should the $300,000 be released? In substantively reviewing the law, the Trail Judge ultimately ordered as follows:
Denise is appointed as the administrator of the estate, conditional upon her completing and filing to the satisfaction of the registrar, all documents necessary to obtain the grant of administration without will annexed, within the next 21 days. Upon obtaining the grant of administration, Denise shall immediately provide notice to Patricia so that if Denise determines that the estate will not pursue the civil action against Renee, Patricia can take the steps required to bring a s. 151 application.
Patricia’s civil action is stayed except to the extent she may bring an application within that action pursuant to s. 151 of WESA for leave to continue the action in her name and on behalf of the estate. That application must be filed within 30 days of Denise being granted administration of the estate. I will not put a time limit within which the application must be heard, but it should be heard promptly in accordance with the court calendar. This means that Denise must also act promptly in her capacity as administrator of the estate, to assess whether it is in the best interests of the estate and beneficiaries to pursue the civil action.
Renee is granted leave to reset her application pursuant to Rule 9-6 to have the civil action dismissed, and for release to her of the $300,000 held in trust, to be heard at the same time as Patricia’s application pursuant to s. 151. If Patricia does not file an application pursuant to s. 151 within 30 days of Denise obtaining grant of administration of the estate, Renee is granted leave to thereafter reset her application at any time.
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