By Suzana Popovic Montag ( April 9, 2025, 3:37 PM EDT) -- The doctrine of suspicious circumstances is not a new concept. Dating back to the English ecclesiastical courts before English law was adopted in Canada, typically suspicious circumstances were used to challenge the validity of wills. In recent years, however, a growing body of case law in Canada explores how suspicious circumstances can be applied in other contexts, resulting in a series of new decisions from the Manitoba Court of Appeal addressing the doctrine’s application to capacity to appoint an attorney for property (see Drewniak v. Smith, 2024 MBCA 86 and Henderson Estate (Re), 2024 MBCA 95) and capacity to enter a contract (see McLeod Estate v. Cole, 2022 MBCA 73)....