Woman nearly shut out of mother's will sues brother in B.C. Supreme Court – and wins

Since she was a young girl growing up in Vancouver, Ginny Lam says her mom Yat Hei Law made it very clear she favoured her son William, because he was her male heir.

Since she was a young girl growing up in Vancouver, Ginny Lam says her mom Yat Hei Law made it very clear she favoured her son William, because he was her male heir.

“We have a two-car garage in my family home, and my mom told me to move my car so my brother could park in the garage,” said Lam. “At family dinners, the nicer pieces of the meat or fish were presented in front of him.”

And Lam said she was told in no uncertain terms the favourism would be reflected in her mother’s will. “My brother was the boy, and he was going inherit,” said Lam. “I asked her, why is that? And she goes, ‘Well, because this is our Chinese custom, and everything goes to the boy.’”

When Law died in 2021 at the age of 74, that’s exactly what happened. 

“My brother got over 82 per cent of her estate, and I got the difference of 18 per cent,” said Lam, who was her mother’s primary caregiver in her final years. “I was very angry, I was very hurt. I felt like I had done something wrong, and I felt ashamed because I was like, what is my worth being a woman?”

Lam, who owns and operates a family entertainment business, said her mother never approved of her being an entrepreneur.

“It was always, ‘Ginny, don't be so smart, no man's going to want you. Your husband is going to leave you if you become too successful or too smart. Just stay at home, go get a secretarial job, and have sons – specifically, have sons,’” said Lam.