No double-dipping in Wills Variation

In B.C., the law allows a deceased person’s spouse (married or marriage-like) or child (biological or adopted) to seek a variation of their Will, if they feel that the deceased did not leave them a reasonable bequest.

Recently, the unusual case Boer v. Mikaloff was decided in B.C. Supreme Court. The Plaintiff, the biological (but then adopted) adult child of the deceased mother, had been left a bequest in her Will (they had reunited in 1996 and enjoyed a good relationship).

The mother died in 2015, and the child tried to vary the Will. The Estate argued that, since the Plaintiff was adopted, he was no longer a “child” (legally speaking) of the deceased.

The Court agreed, and the Plaintiff’s claim was dismissed.

Of course, the Plaintiff would have a claim to the Estate of their adoptive parents.

This ad ran in the Richmond News on January 13, 2017.