Is there a reasonable expectation that adult children will share equally in a parent's estate?

In the absence of relevant reasons for an unequal distribution, there is a reasonable expectation that adult children will share equally in a parent’s estate: McBride v. Voth, 2010 BCSC 443 at para. 134.

The task of fixing an appropriate amount in varying a will is a discretionary exercise involving consideration of a variety of circumstances. However, in Dunsdon v. Dunsdon, 2012 BCSC 1274 at para. 134, Justice Ballance summarized the following considerations that have been accepted as informing 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: