{"id":16969,"date":"2019-07-10T15:20:07","date_gmt":"2019-07-10T20:20:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rsslex.com\/publications\/the-burden-of-proof-when-contesting-a-will\/"},"modified":"2022-01-17T10:45:54","modified_gmt":"2022-01-17T15:45:54","slug":"20190710_the-burden-of-proof-when-contesting-a-will","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.staging.rsslex.com\/en\/bulletins-en\/20190710_the-burden-of-proof-when-contesting-a-will\/","title":{"rendered":"The burden of proof when contesting a will"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><!--\n\n\n<p><b>By <a href=\"https:\/\/www.staging.rsslex.com\/avocats\/profil-individuel-des-avocats\/abourgaultroy\/\">Alice Bourgault-Roy<\/a>, from our Insurance Law Practice Group.<\/b>\n--><\/p>\n<p><!-- July 10, 2019&nbsp;&mdash; -->A will is an important document, that must be drafted by a person capable of expressing directions without any undue influence, otherwise its validity could be challenged before the courts. When such a dispute occurs, the party attacking the validity of the will has to adduce evidence supporting that claim on a balance of probabilities: the party must demonstrate that the invalidity of the will is more likely than its validity.<\/p>\n<p>However, certain legal experts have argued that the burden of proof could be shifted: after the applicant has adduced evidence shedding doubt on the testator&rsquo;s capacity, the opposing party would have to bring proof that the will is valid.<\/p>\n<p>Alice Bourgault-Roy discusses this question in light of <em>Brusenbauch c. Young<\/em>, <a href=\"https:\/\/canlii.ca\/t\/j0n36\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">2019 QCCA 914<\/a>, a recent decision from the Quebec Court of Appeal.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.staging.rsslex.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/20190710_BrusenbauchYoung_EN.pdf\">Click here<\/a> to read more (PDF).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A will is an important document, that must be drafted by a person capable of expressing directions without any undue influence, otherwise its validity could be challenged before the courts. When such a dispute occurs, the party attacking the validity of the will has to adduce evidence supporting that claim on a balance of probabilities: [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":18,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[246,50],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-16969","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-estates-wills-and-trusts-en","category-bulletins-en"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.4 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>The burden of proof when contesting a will - STAGING - RSS - Robinson Sheppard Shapiro<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The burden of proof when contesting a will - STAGING - RSS - Robinson Sheppard Shapiro\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"A will is an important document, that must be drafted by a person capable of expressing directions without any undue influence, otherwise its validity could be challenged before the courts. 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