Man born out of wedlock can’t inherit from grandmother, Ontario court rules
A man who was born out of wedlock has been denied a share of his grandmother’s estate after an Ontario court found the law at the time the woman’s will was made excluded children born outside a marriage.
Though children born out of wedlock faced less stigma by the time Jadwiga Koziarski made her will in 1977, they were not considered to fall under the label of “children” in wills unless specifically mentioned, the court said.
A change in Ontario’s succession law the following year made it clear that the terms “child,” “children” or “issue” — which means descendants — should include those born outside a marriage, but stated that the change only applied to wills written from that point on, the court said.
As a result, the court said 28-year-old Jesse Sullivan cannot inherit part of Koziarski’s estate, which her will said should be split between her two sons and, if any of them died before her, their descendants.