Can a drafting solicitor be found to have had undue influence in the execution of a will?
British Columbia, Canada
The following excerpt is from Ravnyshyn et al v. Drys et al, 2005 BCSC 561 (CanLII):
In Peters Estate v. Ewert, 2002 BCSC 1540, 48 E.T.R. (2d) 91, the testator was an elderly woman with no children who left the bulk of her estate to her church with some bequests to a large number of nieces and nephews who lived in various parts of the world. In finding undue influence, the court considered that the drafting solicitor had little recollection of the circumstances surrounding the preparation of the will or its execution, that the testator had made no provision for an impoverished sister with whom she had had a close relationship, and that the testator had been suffering from delusions.
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