When an estate is involved in litigation against its beneficiaries, the production of estate documents is often a highly emotional subject, not to mention legally complex. The complexity is due to the convergence of multiple forms of disclosure obligations and privileges, some of which are unique to estates litigation. These include:
– A trustee’s obligation to disclose trust documents to beneficiaries;
– The disclosure obligations found in the Rules of Civil Procedure ;
– Solicitor-client privilege;
– Litigation privilege; and
– Joint interest principle.
The interaction of these obligations and limits on disclosure have not been thoroughly canvassed in the context of estates law. However, court cases from outside Canada, as well as decisions from different areas of law, provide a basic framework to understand these issues.
