What is the testator’s moral duty to the independent children?

In Dunsdon v. Dunsdon, 2012 BCSC 1274 [Dunsdon] at para. 134, Madam Justice Ballance summarized considerations relevant to the existence and strength of a testator’s moral duty to independent children: * relationship between the testator and claimant, including abandonment, neglect and estrangement by one or the other; * size of the estate; * contributions by the claimant; * reasonably held expectations of the claimant; * standard of living of the testator and claimant; * gifts and benefits made by the testator outside the will; * testator's reasons for disinheriting; * financial need and other personal circumstances, including disability, of the claimant; * misconduct or poor character of the claimant; * competing claimants and other beneficiaries: …

The court must examine the reasons why a spouse or child was disinherited to determine if they were valid and rational. Validity requires the reasons to be based on true facts, and rationality refers to a logical connection between the disinheritance and the reasons stated for it: Kong v. Kong, 2015 BCSC 1669 at para. 72.