Ontario law- My elderly aunt wants to protect her estate from her step-children?

My aunt is 89 years-old and just left her husband of 27 years after years of emotional abuse. She had been living in Edmonton (he is still there), and has moved back home to Ontario.

She is concerned that if she remains married to him and she dies first, her money will go to him and, ultimately, to his children (who tried to have her declared incompetent by a psychiatrist, until the shrink caught on to what they were doing and declared her perfectly sane).

My aunt's will is very clear that her estate is to be divided 3 ways, to myself and 2 brothers, but she is concerned that her wishes will not be adhered to because my grandfather left everything to my mother, but his step-children challenged the will and got everything divided up amongst themselves as well (these people were in their 30's and 40's when my grandfather married their mother- it's not as if they were children).

How can she ensure that her estate is left to the people she has named in her will ?

She needs to give the original will to her executor now. When she passes away the executor should then take steps to take possession of her estate and probate the will.

she needs to see an attorney and file the paperwork for a TRUST
revocable or irrevocable
trusts CANNOT be challenged in court
only having a will\ can

executors can only do so much to safeguard the deceased wishes
TRUST ME on this , she needs to make a TRUST (paperwork) with the attorney

I don't know about Canada's Laws but here in America you need to will everyone who could possibly lay claim to your estate 1 dollar, that way no one can claim you forgot to name them.

You should also make copies of your will get them certified and give them to people you trust in case someone tries to fiddle with the will.

In America we have estate taxes, so many people who know they will probably die soon who have allot of money try to give some of their money away before they die to limit how much tax they will pay when they die. In this case your aunt might want to consider this as well.

Going ahead and filing for divorce, even if it never gets completed will probably help as well because it will help to prove that your aunt did not want her husband to get the money.

MAke an anoucement to newspaper and eyerbody in your hometown give ur aunt chance to public speaking so the stepchildren wouldn't dare touch the land again or silently sell the estate to govermennt so no one know and the money give to charity OK...