Preparation of Powers of Attorney and Wills to Withstand Attack

• Author: Eric N. Hoffstein and Jordan D. Oelbaum
• Pages: 249-272



PreparationofPowersofAorneyand

WillstoWithstandAack

EricNHostein*andJordanDOelbaum†

A INTRODUCTION

The estate planning lawyer faces numerous dicu ltt asks when at-

temptingto drawa will orpower ofaorneyFirstlythe lawyermust

capture andaccurately setout thetestatorswishesin wrienform so

that thesewishescan be carried outThe lawyermust ensure that all

technical requirements aremet whent hewill is executedThe lawyer

must take proper steps th roughout the retai ner to ensure that the testa-

torsintentionsarenotfrustratedthroughawillcontest

Itseemsthatmoreandmorewillsandpowersofaorneyarebecom-

ing the subject of aack The estate planning lawyer needs to b e par-

ticularly carefulg iventhat shewill almost certainly bedrawn intothe

litigationwheret hewill orpower ofaorneyis beingc hallengedThe

draingsolicitormayndherselfbeingcompelledtoproducetheestate

planningletogiveevidenceasanonpartywitnessunderRuleof

the RulesofCivilProcedureandift hecaseproceedstog iveevidenceata

* Of Fraser Milner Ca sgrain LLP.

† Of Schnurr Kirsh Sch nurr Oelbaum Tator LLP.

 Ontariostati sticsarenotreportedHoweveritisreportedt hatoneineveryone

hundredprobatedwil lsintheUnitedStatesist hesubjectofanaackSeeD ennis

WCollinsAvoidingaWillContestTheImpossibleDreamCreighton

LRevatcitingJohnHLangbeinWi llContestsYaleLJat

n

 RROReg

ENHJDO

trialAllofthisisverytimeconsuminganditcannotbelostbythesolici-

torbroughtintothefam ilybalethatitremain sapossibilityth atfollow-

ingthewillchallengeoraackonthepowerofaorneyshemaybecome

thetargetofoneofthefamilymembersinasolicitorsnegligenceclaim

Somecommentatorshaveevenreferredtoawillchallengeproceedingas

asubtleformofmalpracticeaction

Accordinglyeverytime thatan estateplann inglawyeris retained

to dra a will or power of aorneythat lawyer must turn her aen-

tion to the prospect of a challenge to t he validity of that instru ment

Thelawyermustconsiderthetestatorsorgrantorscapacityknowledge

ofandapprovalof thedocumentscontentsa ndthepresence ofsuspi-

ciousc ircumstances Inmany cases suchas ayoung coupleengaging

intheir rstestateplanni ngtherewil lbelileconcern andthedraer

willspendlessti meconcernedwithissuesofcapacityandunduein u-

enceHowevertherearesituationswherethelawyermayberequiredto

spendagreatdealoftimeconsideringt heseissuesThelawyermustbe

aunedtorecognizingthes esituationsandinsuchcircumstancestake

appropriatestepstoensurethatt hewillorpowerofaorneyiscapable

ofwithstandingaack

B THEWARNINgSIgNS

There are oen recurr ing circumsta nces giving rise to wil l challenges

andaacksonpowersof aorneyTheestatepla nninglawyermustrec-

ognizethosewarni ngsignsandtakeappropriatestepstoensurethatthe

testatorsorgrantorsexpressedtrue wishesare upheldeitherbeforeor

aerthetestatorsdeathInthecaseofwillthe secircumstancesinc lude

anelderlytestator

atestatorinpoorhealth

atestatorprefer ringaspou sefroma secondmarriage overchildren

fromarstmarriageortheconverse

atestatornoti ncludinghisheirs atlawornotpreferr ingthenatu ral

objectsofhis bountybutpreferringmoredista ntrelativesfriendsor

charitablecauses

atestatorpreferringsomechildrenoverothers

asignicantdispositivechangefr omanearlierwill

testamentaryschemest hatarerestrictiveorimposeconditions

 BrianASchnu rrEstate LitigationTorontoCarswellat

 Collinsabovenoteat