The court stressed that wills require reliable evidence of authenticity and clear, final testamentary intentions.
The court also considered evidence from her lawyer and financial advisor, who had known her for more than 25 years. The drafting lawyer provided detailed accounts of his meeting with Alexander, including discussions about her assets, family circumstances and charitable intentions.
An inheritance dispute involving a C$5.5 million estate has ended with a significant victory for charity in British Columbia. When 80-year-old Shirley Isobel Alexander died in April 2025, she left behind a carefully documented estate plan directing her wealth towards charitable causes. The competing claims eventually landed in court, where the Supreme Court of British Columbia delivered its decision on October 29, 2026, ruling in favour of Alexander’s original charitable intentions. Alexander, who lived in Lac La Hache, British Columbia, died on April 29, 2025, without a spouse or children. Her estate was valued at approximately C$5.5 million, with her first cousins among her closest relatives. Two searches of her home uncovered her original 1991 will and a copy of the 2018 document, but nothing connected to the alleged 2024 will or the unsigned letter. The court found the April 2025 codicil valid and confirmed that it upheld the 2018 will. It also concluded that neither version of the alleged 2024 document met the requirements for probate. In its October 29 decision, Alexander Estate (Re), 2026 BCSC 2092, the court admitted the 2018 will and the 2025 codicil to probate in solemn form, rejecting the competing documents.
Because it did not demonstrate final testamentary intentions, the unsigned letter was rejected. But after her death, a woman claiming to be her friend came forward with photocopies of a different will that allegedly named her as the sole beneficiary. The Supreme Court examined the competing evidence, including Alexander’s personal journals, financial records, legal documents and electronic devices.