15 August 2019 TAGS: Case Law Case Brief - Testamentary Capacity and Second Languages In Silano v Silano, the Superior Court considered a will challenge involving an Italian-speaking testator who made a substantial change to his will shortly before his death.
23 July 2019 TAGS: Case Law Case Brief - Varying a Will In Grewal v. Litt, the Supreme Court of British Columbia varied a will that divided a couple's estate unevenly between their sons and daughters.
24 June 2019 TAGS: Case Law Case Brief - Testamentary Capacity and Early Stage Dementia In Kay v Kay Sr, 2019 ONSC 3166, Maranger J considered a will challenge where the testator executed a will at age 89, while in the early stages of Alzheimer's disease.
11 April 2019 TAGS: Estates Case Brief: Challenging a will because of a "material mistake of fact" In Cavanagh et al. v. Sutherland et al., a mother had made a will disinheriting one of her six daughters. After the mother died, this daughter argued that the will was invalid because the mother's decision to disinherit her was "contingent on a material mistake of fact."
28 January 2019 TAGS: Estates It's official: wills are not trusts The Divisional Court has resolved the recent confusion caused by the conflicting Milne and Panda decisions about the validity of certain wills containing "basket clauses".
16 January 2019 TAGS: Case Law Case Brief: Determining the purchase price of a business In Muchmaker Estate (Re), 2019 ONSC 59, the court had to interpret a provision in the deceased's secondary will for determining the purchase price of his business, among other issues.
15 November 2018 TAGS: Case Law Case Brief: What happens when burial arrangements are contested? In Miller v Miller, 2018 ONSC 6625 the children of the deceased strongly disagreed over where their mother should be buried until an estate trustee could be appointed by the court.
13 September 2018 TAGS: Case Law Case Brief: When is a will invalid? In Milne Estate (Re), 2018 ONSC 4174, the Superior Court answers the question: Is a will that grants the executors the discretion to determine what property is subject to the will a valid will?
24 August 2018 TAGS: Case Law What happens when a beneficiary can't be found? If a beneficiary can't be found, when is it appropriate to assume they've died? The Superior Court of Justice considered this issue in Steele v. Smith, 2018 ONSC 4601 and granted a motion declaring that a missing beneficiary had died before the testator.
9 July 2018 TAGS: Case Law Court Approval: One year later Today marks exactly one year since the Superior Court confirmed in a written decision that publishing a notice to creditors on NoticeConnect satisfies the Trustee Act.
18 June 2018 TAGS: Case Law How long do surviving spouses have to choose between the FLA and SLRA regimes? In Aquilina v Aquilina (2018 ONSC 3607), S.F. Dunphy J. explains when it is appropriate to extend the statutory deadline by which a surviving spouse must elect between equalization under the Family Law Act vs the Succession Law Reform Act.
15 May 2018 TAGS: Case Law Case Brief: Koster v. Koster, 2018 ONSC 2321 George Koster died in 2014 at the age of 94. George's nieces and nephews brought an application challenging the validity of George's will on the grounds that George's mistress-turned-wife, Elizabeth, had unduly influence George.
27 April 2018 TAGS: Estates Estate law horror stories: the unruly trustee Many testators provide clear direction on the administration of their assets and appoint trusted and responsible friends or family members as their estate trustees. But there are many instances where these individuals ignore their fiduciary duties to the testator’s estate, with disastrous results.
4 April 2018 TAGS: Estates Case Brief: Fica v Dmytrshyn Nadia Dmytryshyn had two sons, Taras and Bryan, and a brother Ned. Taras and Ned had power of attorney over Nadia's property in the six months before her death and were then her Estate Trustees.
7 July 2017 TAGS: Case Law Court Confirms NoticeConnect Satisfies Trustee Act This morning, Justice Conway of the Ontario Superior Court granted an order confirming that a notice to creditors published on NoticeConnect.com had satisfied the estate trustee’s duty to advertise for creditors