Ex-Mountie wife killer costs family $45K fighting estate

This has to be one of the saddest and most frustrating stories I've heard in a long time.

CBC is reporting that Keith Weins, a former Mountie from BC who is in jail, having been convicted of killing his common law wife by shooting her during an argument, is suing her estate for a share of the assets. He is representing himself (either because he can't afford a lawyer or couldn't find one to take his case) and, in my opinion, is badly abusing the judicial system. Click here to read the CBC story.

The article says that the executor has so far spent $45,000 defending the estate from the husband's claims. It doesn't sound as if it's nearing a conclusion, either. Everyone in the family is upset, horrified, and frustrated.

The husband appears to be taking advantage of every loophole and every opportunity to delay and aggravate matters. I suppose when you're behind bars you have more time to devote to this kind of idiocy than most people do, and since he isn't using a lawyer he doesn't care what it costs.

Though most cases are not as dramatic as this one, I certainly see a number of cases in which one party is simply grabbing at every possible legal avenue for very little gain. They don't get financial gain from it; in fact, most times they lose money. It seems sometimes that all they really get out of it is annoying or upsetting the other parties. Perhaps what they hope to gain is causing the other people to be so fed up, they'll quit.

These are the days I wish we could tighten up the court system to prevent abuse. However, I don't really see how it can be done without limiting access by those who honestly do need the court's help. If only we could bring back common sense and common decency, maybe people would stop using the courts as hammers to hit each other with.

The attached photo is of Lynn Kalmring, the deceased wife. The photo accompanied the article on the CBC website and is described as a family photo