Notice of Dispute

In British Columbia, under the new probate rules, if you wish to dispute the validity of a will, and oppose a grant of probate or of administration of the will, you may file a notice of dispute before the Supreme Court of British Columbia issues the grant.

The procedure is set out under new Rule 25-10, which came into effect on March 31, 2014 with the new Wills, Estates and Succession Act.

The notice of dispute, replaces caveats under the old rules, and are similar but not identical to caveats. I wrote about caveats here. 

In contrast to caveats, you may only file one notice of dispute, but it remains in effect for one year (rather than 6 months) unless removed.

The Registrar may not issue a grant, an authorization to obtain estate information, or reseal a foreign grant while a notice of dispute is in effect.

The “disputant” may withdraw a notice of dispute by filing a withdrawal in form P 30. The old rules did not prescribe a form for withdrawing a caveat in estates, although the form prescribed for withdrawing caveats in admiralty proceedings was sometimes used.

You may also apply to court to renew the notice of dispute under Rule 25-10 (7).

Any person interested in the estate may apply under Rule 25-10 (10) to court to remove a notice of dispute, and the court may do so “if the court determines that the filing is not in the best interests of the estate.” This is set out in Rule 25-10 (11).