Estate Planning

Leaving a Legacy

By Hull & Hull LLP

A good friend of mine recently reminded me that death is not just about dividing up the spoils (a common theme in estate litigation), but also about remembering the lasting contributions made by a person during their lifetime. I was reminded of this in reading about the recent deaths of two well-known figures, Donald Marshall and Eunice Kennedy Shriver.

Donald Marshall passed away last week in Sydney, Nova Scotia. In 1971, when he was just seventeen years old, Mr. Marshall was wrongfully convicted of a crime he did not commit and jailed for eleven years. He subsequently challenged the legal system and blazed a trail for other wrongfully convicted Canadians to fight to have their convictions overturned. His case led to a Royal Commission in 1990, which produced a slew of recommendations that fundamentally changed the criminal justice system in Nova Scotia. In 1993, Mr. Marshall again reluctantly stepped into the spotlight, when he was arrested and eventually convicted of various fishing violations. Mr. Marshall fought his convictions all the way to the Supreme Court of Canada, winning acquittals and a significant victory for the native treaty rights of his people, the Mi'kmaq Nation. 

This week, Eunice Kennedy Shriver (President John F. Kennedy's sister) passed away. Eunice Kennedy Shriver was a champion for the rights of the mentally disabled and founded the Special Olympics, which has grown into a truly global event. President Obama noted in a statement that Mrs. Shriver will be remembered as "as a champion for people with intellectual disabilities, and as an extraordinary woman who, as much as anyone, taught our nation — and our world — that no physical or mental barrier can restrain the power of the human spirit".

Thanks for reading,

Bianca La Neve

Full post as published by Toronto Estate Law Blog on August 13, 2009 (boomark / email).