Case information

Wills and estates — Wills — Validity — Testator making will, passing away the following year — Testator’s daughter challenging validity of will — Application judge dismissing challenge to validity of will — Court of Appeal dismissing motion for extension of time to serve and file notice of appeal - Whether Court of Appeal erring in treating procedural dismissal as final determination, contrary to principles of access to justice and imperative of substantive fairness in estate litigation — Whether Court of Appeal and motions judge failing to engage with merits of proposed appeal — Whether Court of Appeal applying incorrect legal standard in failing to assess whether motion judge had misapprehended material facts or committed an error in principle — Whether Court of Appeal failing to consider matters of national and systemic concern, including: treatment of vulnerable self-represented litigants; chronic problem of lawyer withdrawal and abandonment in civil proceedings; and increasing use of procedural gatekeeping to bar appellate review of serious elder abuse, access to justice, and equitable claims in estate disputes.

Case summaries are prepared by the Office of the Registrar of the Supreme Court of Canada (Law Branch). Please note that summaries are not provided to the Judges of the Court. They are placed on the Court file and website for information purposes only.

In 2020, applicant Susan Henderson brought an application to challenge the validity of a will that her mother had made in 2018. Ms. Henderson’s mother had died in 2019. The application was dismissed.

Ms. Henderson brought a motion for an extension of time to serve and file her notice of appeal. The motion was dismissed. A three-judge panel of the Court of Appeal for Ontario dismissed a subsequent application to adduce fresh evidence and motion for review.