Till death do us part: Wills in blended families bring challenges for lawyers
Thursday, August 31, 2017 @ 8:40 AM | By Jordan Atin
The Ontario case of Rammage v. Estate of Roussel proves that “simple” doesn’t mean “uncomplicated.”
Rammage v. Estate of Roussel 2016 ONSC 1857 considered a common situation of blended family will planning. Each of the spouses, Alf and Ruth Roussel, had two children from previous marriages. The couple went to a lawyer, who prepared “reciprocal” or “mirror” wills for both of them. Those wills were identical and gave all of their respective estates to each other, absolutely, when the first of them died. The wills also...
Rammage v. Estate of Roussel 2016 ONSC 1857 considered a common situation of blended family will planning. Each of the spouses, Alf and Ruth Roussel, had two children from previous marriages. The couple went to a lawyer, who prepared “reciprocal” or “mirror” wills for both of them. Those wills were identical and gave all of their respective estates to each other, absolutely, when the first of them died. The wills also...
