Woman successfully challenges mother’s ‘gender-biased’ will in court

Growing up, Ginny Lam always felt second class to her brother in her mother’s eyes.

“She told me to my face that being a girl, she didn’t have high expectations of me. She’s told me numerous times that he was the boy and was superior, and I was definitely made to feel inferior,” said Lam, who was born and raised in Vancouver and now lives in Richmond.

Even when her mother’s, Yet Hei Law, health deteriorated and Lam became her primary caretaker, Law still made it clear that she would favour her son, William Law, in her will. Lam claims that her mother’s favouritism stems from old Chinese customs where the son would inherit the family fortune.

“I said, ‘But mom, you know this isn’t right.’ And she goes, ‘It doesn’t matter, this is what happens in Chinese families, it goes to the boy,’” Lam said, recounting a conversation she had with her mother in the hospital bed.

It was no surprise after Law’s passing in 2021 that Lam was only left a 50 per cent share of one of the family’s rental property, while William Law received around $2.2 million of the family’s estate. Lam tried to negotiate with her brother but was met with hostility.

“I was trying to say to him, you have the power to stop this, you know this isn’t right. But he kept saying this is what mom wanted … I said ‘I think we should talk about it,’ and he said, ‘Well, lawyer up.’”

Under B.C.’s Wills, Estates and Succession Act, one can ask the court to vary a will if they’ve been unfairly marginalized in the distribution of the estate. The court hearings took 14 days and in August, Madam Justice Maria Morellato ruled that the rental property would be split 85-15, in favour of Lam.

“The BC supreme court held that the evidence in this case established that mom favoured her son because of his gender,” said Lam’s attorney Aubrie Girou, an estate lawyer at Alexander Holburn.  “It’s not a removal of their right to leave property how they want upon their death, it’s just a limit. That limit is enforced by contemporary social norms.”

It may be a small victory in comparison to the gifts her brother William Law has received from their mother before her death, but Lam says she hopes sharing her story will inspire other women who face gender discrimination.

“You could not imagine how many phone calls, and emails from women across the world. A lot of women, from different backgrounds, saying thank you so much, I went through the same scenario, and you’re giving me some hope. There is a voice that is stronger that gender biases are not acceptable anymore,” said Lam.

Lam says her brother plans to appeal the court decision. CityNews has reached out to William Law’s attorneys at B.C. law firm Fasken for a statement but did not hear back by time of publishing.