The short answer is yes — Ontario law gives you the freedom to disinherit an adult child, and you do not have to explain why. The longer answer involves the Succession Law Reform Act's dependant's-relief provisions, the realities of an estate challenge, and how to protect your decision so it actually holds up in court. Here is what you can do, what you cannot do, and how to make a disinheritance stick.
Ontario, like the rest of common-law Canada, follows the doctrine of testamentary freedom. You may distribute your estate however you wish. There is no forced share for children. There is no community-property regime that automatically gives spouses or descendants a fixed percentage. You write the will; the will controls (subject to the limits below).
This is different from many civil-law jurisdictions (Quebec, France, Germany, India, the Philippines) where forced heirship rules guarantee children a fixed share regardless of the will. In Ontario, the will wins.
The Succession Law Reform Act (R.S.O. 1990, c. S.26), Part V, lets a 'dependant' of the deceased apply to court for support out of the estate if the will does not provide adequately. A 'dependant' is defined narrowly:
If a person fits one of these categories AND the testator was actually providing support, AND the will leaves them inadequate provision, they can apply to court. The court can then carve out a support order from the estate.
If you have a child under 18, you cannot effectively disinherit them. Minor children are presumed to be your dependants because parents have a legal obligation to support them. A will that leaves nothing to a minor child will be challenged successfully, and the court will award support out of the estate.
The right move is to provide adequately for minor children directly. Willbeing's questionnaire flags minor children automatically and adds a trust clause holding their share until age 18, 21, or 25 — your choice — with a guardian named.
An adult, financially-independent child has no automatic claim against your estate. You can leave them out entirely. The most common disinheritance scenarios — estranged adult child, child who received substantial gifts during life, child who has caused harm to the family — are all permissible under Ontario law.
The limit is dependency. If your adult child has a disability that prevents them from supporting themselves, and you have been providing support, they qualify as a dependant. The court will likely find your will inadequate if it leaves them nothing. (For ODSP-eligible adult children, a Henson Trust is the canonical structure — it provides for them without disqualifying them from benefits.)
If your adult child has been financially dependent on you for ordinary expenses — say, an unemployed adult child living at home — that may also qualify them as a dependant under SLRA.
Disinheritance is permitted, but it triggers challenges. Here is how to make your decision survive court:
If you are disinheriting a child, we recommend the full protection package: will + execution + capacity video + notarized capacity certificate + sealed message to the disinherited child. The total at Willbeing is $99.99 (will) + $149.99 (capacity video bundle) + $49.99 (sealed message) = <strong>$299.97</strong>. Compare to the $40,000+ a contested capacity challenge would cost.
The questionnaire flags 'disinherit' decisions automatically and prompts you through the protective additions. Nothing about the disinheritance is hidden from you — the consequences and protections are spelled out.