Redistribution for daughters.

• Author: Mitchell, Teresa
• Position: Bench Press - Brief article

Mr. and Mrs. Singh had five children: two sons and three daughters. Mr. Singh died in 1994 and Mrs. Singh in 2004. In her will, she left a legacy of $10,000 for each of the daughters and left the rest of the estate to the two sons, about $260,000 each. Two of the three daughters contested the terms of their mother's will under the BC Wills Variation which allows claims by family members who feel they have not been adequately provided for. The third daughter chose to abide by her $10,000 legacy. The family came from an Indo-Fijian culture which holds a tradition that sons and not daughters inherit the bulk of their parents' estates. All agreed that Mrs. Singh saw this tradition as binding. The BC Supreme Court stated that in re-distributing the proceeds of an estate under the Act, it must look at the legal and moral obligations of the testator. It decided that in this case the distribution of...