Quote:
Originally Posted by GGG
But if the will wasn’t valid how would the brother be able to make a claim? His claim for damages would be based entirely on the will being valid.
Essentially my question is how could the court find he was damaged and find the will wasn’t valid doesn’t one rely on the other?
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The claim would be based on the notion that the will would have been valid had the error not been made. So if the will was invalid due to the testator having dementia or something, then you're probably right. But if the deceased was competent at the time of the will's creation and the lawyer messed up something else like using ineligible witnesses or something, then they may be liable.
And it's not just a question of valid vs. invalid. Someone writing a will can make an error in a valid will that deprives a beneficiary of a share of the estate, and that can create a liability. I mentioned ineligible witnesses above, and that has happened in Canada. A lawyer used a beneficiary's spouse as a witness, which invalidated that gift. The lawyer was found liable for the beneficiary's loss from that error.