Nine of Mary Thibeault’s friends and family were worried enough about Halifax Mayor Peter Kelly’s handling of Thibeault’s estate that they hired a lawyer.
Now there’s another group of beneficiaries reviewing their own rights, beginning another phase of legal wrangling.
Five major charities named in the will are entitled to a total of at least $175,000 from the estate of Thibeault.
Kelly is facing published accusations that more than six years after the death of Thibeault, a longtime family friend, he has failed to settle her estate and that he took more than $160,000 from it along the way.
The money involved is no small token. The local branch of the Canadian National Institute for the Blind raised a total of $100,000 last year from private sources. It is owed at least $50,000 from Thibeault’s estate, enough to pay fully for one program with money left over.
After hearing through the grapevine about the money, the CNIB wasn’t about to sit back and see what happened.
"We were never officially notified by Mayor Kelly or any representative on his behalf, or by the courts, by anyone," said Warren Spires, Atlantic director of fund development for the CNIB.
Spires got a copy of the will from Nova Scotia probate court last week. After reading a story about Thibeault’s will in the Coast, Halifax’s alternative weekly newspaper, he copied down the name of Kelly’s lawyer, Harry Thompson, and called to ask about the situation.
Thompson is on vacation until Monday.
"We can’t let it go. We’re in desperate need of funding support," Spires said.
"I honestly believe that we owe it to the late Mary Thibeault, who was so generous to think of us in a significant fashion in her will. She wanted us to have this support and we need it for our clients, but it’s also just the right ending to this story."
The Canadian Cancer Society, Canadian Diabetes Association and the Heart and Stroke Foundation are also beneficiaries, each entitled to five per cent of Thibeault’s estate.
She left 10 per cent each to the CNIB and to the American branch of the Salvation Army, specifically for "use in their Christmas fund."
Spokespeople from the organizations entitled to five per cent refused to comment on Thibeault’s will Tuesday. A spokeswoman from the Salvation Army could not say whether the charity is aware of the gift because more time is required to look through records.
Negotiations similar to those between the individual beneficiaries and Kelly may not do the trick for the charities. In fact, such out-of-court settlements can result in legal claims against the estate, said Halifax estate lawyer Kelly Greenwood, speaking generally.
Citing unnamed sources, the Coast wrote that Kelly agreed to step down as executor and return $145,000 out of more than $160,000 that he allegedly moved out of Thibeault’s bank account after her death. In exchange, according to the weekly, he wanted the beneficiaries not to speak about the situation.
Spires said he is concerned about the notion of tradeoffs and out-of-court settlements, and the idea that the amount of money owed to beneficiaries is still unclear.
"It would seem to me that there’s only one way to execute a will, and that’s as per the request of the deceased individual."
Lloyd Robbins, the nine individual beneficiaries’ lawyer, said he won’t be surprised if the charities get their own legal representation.
"I don’t represent any charities, but nothing that my clients are doing is adverse to the charities," he said.
"I think the charities will probably have their own lawyers, if they choose to get lawyers. If they choose to join my group, they’re free to."
If an out-of-court estate settlement comes before probate court, there are two ways to show its validity: if all beneficiaries have consented to it, or if the parties have gone before an arbitrator, a mediator or a court and have an order of consent to show for it, said Cora Jacquemin, registrar of probate for Halifax Regional Municipality, who could not comment on this case.
"Eventually, everybody’s got to sign off on it, or a court’s got to sign off on it," said Jacquemin.
