Search wills, executor duties, capacity disputes, inheritance, trusts, and more — backed by real case law.
Probate and estates law sits at the intersection of property rights, fiduciary duties, and family dynamics — where a single detail in a will can change everything. Casey searches millions of court and tribunal decisions to show how courts handled similar estate disputes, giving executors, beneficiaries, and families the clarity they need.
Probate and estates law sits at the intersection of property rights, fiduciary duties, and family dynamics — where a single detail in a will can change everything. Casey searches millions of court and tribunal decisions to show how courts handled similar estate disputes, giving executors, beneficiaries, and families the clarity they need.
Real Scenarios
1
Validity of Wills
Many people write their own wills without understanding signing requirements, or change their wills late in life, creating disputes about whether the document is legally valid.
Prompt:
“What cases explain when a handwritten or unsigned will was considered valid?”
Casey retrieves decisions about formal requirements, improper witnessing, holograph wills, and doctrines used to cure errors.
2
Mental Capacity & Undue Influence
Capacity and influence disputes are common when a person signs a will while elderly, ill, or dependent on others. Proving either requires understanding specific legal tests and evidence standards.
Prompt:
“What decisions found a will invalid due to undue influence by a family member?”
Casey retrieves rulings analyzing vulnerability, power imbalance, suspicious circumstances, and credibility of witnesses.
3
Executor Duties, Powers & Liabilities
Executors must secure assets, pay debts, manage property, file taxes, and administer the estate fairly. Mistakes can create personal liability.
Prompt:
“What cases found executors liable for failing to safeguard estate assets?”
Casey surfaces decisions analyzing mismanagement, delay, conflict of interest, and failure to account to beneficiaries.
4
Intestacy: Estates Without a Will
When someone dies without a will, the law decides who inherits. Intestacy rules often surprise families, especially in blended or non-traditional households.
Prompt:
“What cases explain inheritance rights when there is no will and no spouse?”
Casey retrieves rulings explaining statutory succession, priority of heirs, and distribution of property.
5
Joint Accounts, Gifts & Beneficiary Designations
People frequently add family members to bank accounts or property titles without understanding the legal consequences. Courts regularly decide whether joint assets were true gifts or held in trust for the estate.
Prompt:
“What cases determine whether a joint account belonged to the surviving owner or the estate?”
Casey retrieves decisions analyzing intention, contribution, control, and presumption of resulting trust.
6
Trusts & Trustee Responsibilities
Trust disputes involve interpretation of trust documents, trustee conduct, investment decisions, and management of long-term assets. Trustees have serious fiduciary duties.
Prompt:
“What decisions found trustees liable for improper investment decisions?”
Casey retrieves rulings discussing prudence, diversification, risk levels, and the standard of care expected of trustees.
Real Scenarios
Many people write their own wills without understanding signing requirements, or change their wills late in life, creating disputes about whether the document is legally valid.
Prompt:
“What cases explain when a handwritten or unsigned will was considered valid?”
Casey retrieves decisions about formal requirements, improper witnessing, holograph wills, and doctrines used to cure errors.
When someone dies without a will, common-law partners may have no automatic inheritance rights in many Canadian provinces — even after decades together. The rules vary dramatically by jurisdiction.
Ask Casey your question and get answers backed by real case law — free for the public, powerful for professionals.