Is a separation agreement releasing estate claims still enforceable without independent legal advice in Ontario?

Not automatically unenforceable, but the lack of independent legal advice is a significant factor a court can weigh in deciding whether to uphold, or set aside, a separation agreement's release of estate claims. Ontario law generally still allows domestic contracts to be enforced even without both parties having had a lawyer, but a court reviewing a separation agreement after death, in the context of a dependant support claim, considers whether the agreement was signed knowingly and fairly, and whether releasing future estate claims was properly understood at the time.

The absence of independent legal advice can make it easier for a spouse, or their estate if they're the one who died, to argue the release shouldn't be given full effect, especially alongside other issues like unequal bargaining power, incomplete financial disclosure, or unfair terms at signing. It's one factor among several, though, not an automatic reason to disregard the agreement entirely. Anyone relying on an old separation agreement to resist, or bring, a claim against an estate should get legal advice about how the circumstances of that agreement's signing are likely to be treated.