Mawdsley v. Meshen Estate et al. 2012 BCCA 91
Fraud and Misrepresentation - Fraudulent conveyances and preferences - Impeachable conveyances and preferences under modern statutes - Intention to “defeat, delay or prejudice” creditors
Shortly before her death in June 2006, Joan Meshen, a woman of considerable wealth, transferred certain assets into joint tenancy and divested herself of her remaining assets by way of outright gifts and an inter vivos trust, which effectively impoverished her estate. By those dispositions and under her will Meshen left nothing to her common-law spouse of 18 years (Mawdsley). Mawdsley pursued a claim under the Fraudulent Conveyance Act and sought a variation of Meshen’s will under the Wills Variation Act.
The British Columbia Supreme Court, in a decision reported [2010] B.C.T.C. Uned. 1099, held that the transactions were not void under the Fraudulent Conveyance Act. The court varied the will to give the residue to Mawdsley. Mawdsley appealed.
The British Columbia Court of Appeal dismissed the appeal.
