Ontario does not let you disinherit someone you were supporting. If the deceased was providing support, or was under a legal obligation to, a spouse, child, parent or sibling can ask the court for support out of the estate — and the court can override a perfectly valid will.
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The <a href="https://www.ontario.ca/laws/statute/90s26">Succession Law Reform Act</a> limits the claim to four relationships: spouse, parent, child, and brother or sister of the deceased. On top of the relationship, the deceased must have been providing support immediately before death, or have been under a legal obligation to provide it. A wealthy adult sibling who was never supported does not qualify no matter how small their share.
Those words are defined more broadly than they look. Child includes a grandchild and a person the deceased had demonstrated a settled intention to treat as a child of the family, which brings in stepchildren raised in the household. Parent includes a grandparent. Spouse covers a married spouse and, for support purposes, a partner who cohabited continuously for at least three years or was in a relationship of some permanence with a child.
Adult children are the hardest category and the most litigated. There is no automatic entitlement, and a self-supporting adult who was given nothing usually gets nothing. The claim turns on actual need and on the moral obligation Ontario courts recognize alongside the legal one, which is why a disabled adult child living at home is the strongest case in this area.
None of this depends on there being a will. An intestate share fixed by statute can be just as inadequate as a will that left you out, and the same claim is available. It is also available against a will that gave you something, if what it gave is not adequate provision for your proper support.
This is the feature that decides most of these cases. For support purposes the legislation treats certain assets that passed outside the estate as though they were still in it: the deceased's interest in property held jointly and passing by survivorship, proceeds of insurance paid to a named beneficiary, amounts payable under a designated registered plan, and certain gifts made in contemplation of death.
The practical consequence is that the standard plan for cutting someone out — put the house in joint names, name a new beneficiary on the policies and the RRIF, leave an empty estate behind — does not work against a dependant. It works against a will challenge. It does not work here, and people who have been advised otherwise find that out late.
The test is whether the deceased made adequate provision for the dependant's proper support. The court weighs the dependant's own assets and means, their capacity to contribute to their own support, their age and health, how long the relationship lasted, contributions the dependant made, any agreement between them, and the deceased's stated reasons for the disposition.
The remedies are flexible. The court can order a lump sum, periodic payments, the transfer or use of specific property, a life interest in the home, or a trust. Interim support is available while the claim runs, and the court can suspend the administration of the estate so that assets are not distributed out from under the claim.
The claim must be brought within six months of the grant of the certificate of appointment of estate trustee. After that window the court may still allow a claim, but only against the portion of the estate that has not yet been distributed — which, in a small estate administered promptly, can be nothing at all. Treat the six months as hard.
That deadline is also why competent estate trustees do not rush distributions. A trustee who pays everything out while a dependant's claim is live, or before the window has closed, can be personally liable to make up the shortfall. If you are the trustee and you know of a possible claimant, get advice before you distribute anything beyond funeral and administration expenses.
Related claims run on their own clocks. A married spouse can elect to take an equalization payment under the <a href="https://www.ontario.ca/laws/statute/90f03">Family Law Act</a> rather than under the will, and that election has to be made within six months of death. A spouse who was supported may have both routes available, and choosing between them is a calculation, not a preference — the election is difficult to undo.
Bring what you actually relied on. Bank records showing money the deceased paid you, a lease in their name, tuition, medical costs, a household you both ran — that evidence is worth more than any statement about what you were promised. Our <a href="/wills-estates">wills and estates page</a> sets out how we take these on, and <a href="/pricing">pricing</a> shows what planning work costs.
Only if you were not a dependant. Ontario has no forced share, so an adult who was not being supported and was not owed support can be left out entirely. If the deceased was actually supporting you, or owed you support, you can apply for support from the estate regardless of what the will says. The court then decides what adequate provision looks like.
For support, yes. A partner who cohabited continuously for at least three years, or who was in a relationship of some permanence with a child of the relationship, can claim dependant's support if they were being supported or were owed support. Common-law partners do not inherit on an intestacy in Ontario and cannot make a Family Law Act election, which makes this claim their main route.
Sometimes. There is no automatic entitlement for an adult child, and financial independence usually ends the claim. Where the adult child was actually being supported, or is disabled, or contributed to the parent's household or business without proper payment, the claim can be strong. Ontario courts weigh the parent's moral obligation alongside the strict legal one.
It can still be reached. For dependant support purposes the legislation treats the deceased's share of jointly held property, insurance proceeds paid to a named beneficiary, designated registered plan proceeds and certain gifts made in contemplation of death as part of the estate. Emptying the estate through joint ownership and designations does not defeat a dependant's claim.
You may still be able to apply, but only against whatever the trustee has not yet distributed. The safer step is to notify the estate trustee in writing immediately that a claim is coming, since a trustee who distributes with notice of a claim risks personal liability. Get advice the same week, not the same month.
Open your file tonight — a licensed Ontario lawyer will confirm everything with you by tomorrow.