Is a husband's right to inherit his wife’s share of his estate under a Will?

In Morrell Estate v. Robinson, 2008 NSSC 295, 2008 CarswellNS 530 (S.C.), the testator made a Will in 2002, after his marriage but before separation and divorce. The separation agreement provided (at section 20) that the parties “forever renounce and waive any claim in the estate of the other and any right to share in the estate of the other, whether such claim or right arises under statute or otherwise, including the right to administer the estate of the other in the event of the death of that party.” The testator's will, however, left the residue of his estate to the wife. The issue was whether the wife had waived and released her right to inherit under the testator's will by executing the separation agreement. The testator's mother, who was the executor under the Will, submitted that the separation agreement was “intended to be ‘a full and final settlement' between the parties and to effect a division of all their assets ‘to their mutual satisfaction’.” She argued that as a result, s. 20 of the agreement “effectively waives and releases [the wife's] right to inherit under the will” and that to hold otherwise “would have the effect of defeating the intent that the separation agreement be a full and final settlement.”