Estates and Trusts Litigation in British Columbia

Disagreements over an estate or a trust are rarely just about money. They surface at a hard time, often between people who are related, and they can turn on documents and decisions made years earlier. Estate and trust litigation is how those disputes get resolved when the people involved cannot settle them on their own.

In British Columbia these files cover a lot of ground. Someone may challenge the validity of a will, or bring a wills variation claim after being left without adequate provision. Beneficiaries may question how an executor or trustee has handled the estate, ask for a proper accounting, or allege a breach of fiduciary duty. Other disputes involve assets moved out of an estate before death, which can raise resulting, express, or constructive trust claims. Our Vancouver estate litigation lawyers handle each of these situations.

Onyx Law Group works at the intersection of estate and family law, and that matters here because so many of these disputes touch both. Reading a family company, a marriage, and an estate plan together often shapes how a claim is built and how it settles.

Key points

• Estate and trust disputes include will challenges, wills variation claims, and disagreements over how executors and trustees carry out their duties.
• Beneficiaries can ask an executor or trustee to account for their handling of the estate and can raise a breach of fiduciary duty where assets have been mishandled.
• Assets transferred out of an estate before death can be pursued through resulting, express, or constructive trust claims.
• Many estate disputes overlap with family law, so a firm working across both areas can address the whole picture.

Learn more

See how we approach these files on our Vancouver estate litigation lawyer page, or get in touch to talk through your situation.

Full transcript

Suing your family for an inheritance is probably the last thing you want to do, but when there’s been an injustice created in an estate plan, or lack thereof, litigation becomes necessary to ensure a more equitable distribution of the family wealth. At Onyx Law Group, we have deep knowledge in estates, trust, and family law, and the intersections of these practice areas as well. We’re able to draw upon all these areas of law to craft creative claims and defenses to obtain the results that you want, when it comes to commencing wills variation claims when you’ve been disinherited, or making resulting, express, and constructive trust claims when assets have been transferred outside the estate. We will find a way to obtain the result you’re looking for.

Often known as the lawyers of last resort in terms of crafting creative plaintiff’s claims, we don’t leave money on the table when we’re negotiating any settlement. We also leave no stone unturned when investigating estate assets, including tackling rogue executors’ accountings, making breach of fiduciary duty and breach of trust claims, and deciphering the value of a family company in order for the value to be shared with our clients. There isn’t any estate problem too complicated that we can’t handle for you. Get in touch with us today to start the process, and we’ll be happy to answer any additional questions.

Facing a dispute over an estate or a trust? Book a consultation with Onyx Law Group to start the conversation, contact us here.