LOLG Successful in Application to Interpret Wills

On November 28, 2025, the Ontario Superior Court of Justice released its decision in Marder v. Geller, 2025 ONSC 6611. The case concerned the interpretation and attempted rectification of two wills in circumstances where the issue was whether common shares that were distributed to the testator during her lifetime from a family trust established as part of an estate freeze were assets that the testator “inherited” from her parents. Justice Dietrich held that neither the value of the disputed shares nor the shares themselves, formed part of the testator’s inheritance from her parents, which was the position advanced by LOLG on behalf of its client. Justice Dietrich also dismissed an attempt by the unsuccessful respondents to rectify the wills to include the disputes shares as part of the “inheritance”.

The case serves as a useful precedent for the interpretation and rectification of wills, and includes a thorough analysis of the circumstances where the drafting solicitor’s file and oral evidence will be admitted into the record of a disputed interpretation of a will. 

Andrew Winton and Anne Posno were counsel for the successful beneficiary. The decision can be found here.