Cases Considered: Re Boychuk (Estate), 2008 ABQB 38
PDF Version: Restraining Disinheritance
The idea that a deceased person’s estate should be available to those who were dependent upon the deceased during his or her lifetime is an idea recognized by many legal systems. Sometimes it finds expression in the forced distribution of shares of a deceased’s estate; in other cases, a maintenance principle is adopted. Alberta originally adopted the forced share approach. The Married Women’s Relief Act, enacted in 1910, authorized a court to grant a widow who had been left less in her husband’s will than she would have been entitled to as her intestate share “such allowance … as may be just and equitable in the circumstances.” The courts interpreted that provision to me an the widow was entitled to an amount equivalent to her intestate share: McBratney v. McBratney (1919), 50 D.L.R. 132. However, within a generation, Alberta shifted to the more flexible maintenance approach and extended protection to children. In Alberta’s current statute, the Dependants Relief Act, the deceased’s dependants are entitled to adequate maintenance from his or her estate.