By Michelle Tribe.

In an ideal world, all people would have a clear and unambiguous will in place at the time of their death; however, this is not always the case. In the recent case of Re Brooks Estate the B.C. Supreme Court faced a situation of having to interpret an incomplete and unclear will and, in doing so, set out the principles that should be followed in such cases.

By Amy A. Mortimore.

Executors often find themselves unsure of how to carry out the terms of a will. This can result from a lack of clarity in the wording of the will, as described in our article How Does the Court Interpret An Unclear Will? in this issue of Your Estate Matters, or from a testator including terms in the Will that are contrary to accepted practice. In the recent B.C. Supreme Court case of Ketcham v. Walton, the executor asked the Court whether it was proper for him to carry out the terms of the Will that instructed the executor to actively oppose all claims made by the deceased's children to vary the will under the Wills Variation Act.