Leba Rubinoff, daughter of famed Canadian sculptor Jeffrey Rubinoff, is suing the executors of her father’s estate and the Jeffrey Rubinoff Foundation, claiming her father’s will failed to make “adequate provision” for her after his death in January 2017.
Leba Rubinoff, daughter of famed Canadian sculptor Jeffrey Rubinoff, is suing the executors of her father’s estate and the Jeffrey Rubinoff Foundation, claiming her father’s will failed to make “adequate provision” for her after his death in January 2017.
Rubinoff filed a notice of civil claim in BC Supreme Court on December 11, naming executors Edgar Frechette, a tax lawyer, and Elizabeth Kennedy, Rubinoff’s wife, as defendants in addition to her father’s foundation. Jeffrey Rubinoff died on January 24, 2017, according to the claim. His will bequeathed his Hornby Island properties to the foundation, while leaving the plaintiff with a $1 million payout and an $8 million trust. The will also provided a $2 million payout and $8 million trust to Kennedy, and various gifts to others, including a $500,000 payout to Kamloops Art Gallery curator Charo Neville, who is not a party to the lawsuit.
Rubinoff’s estate was originally valued at more than $24.7 million, the claim says, but was later found to be worth much more.
“Since the deceased’s death, it has been determined that the deceased had an interest in a family company with a value of approximately $17 million, making the gross date of death value of the estate over $41 million,” the claim states.
“In all the circumstances the will does not make adequate, just and equitable provision for the plaintiff and the will should be varied,” the claim states. “The deceased did not have valid and rational reasons for failing to provide adequately for the plaintiff under the will.”
The allegations have not been tested or proven in court, and the executors and the foundation had not filed a response to the claim by press time.
