Where an estate is insufficient to adequately provide for the maintenance of a widow, the deceased's obligation to maintain the widow prevails over any obligation to advance an adult child, even where the child has a genuine need for advancement. Estrangement initiated by a child who was emotionally and intellectually immature at the time does not extinguish the deceased's moral obligation to make provision, but the claim may still fail on the basis of competing claims and limited resources. An adverse costs order should not be made against an unsuccessful family provision applicant where the claim was not unreasonably brought and the costs order would falsify the court's finding that the applicant was able to support himself.
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