Clarification from the Québec Court of Appeal on Access to Testamentary Documents and Notarial Professional Secrecy

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This blog has been written by Frédéric Barriault, counsel, at Fasken LLP The decisions in Bigras (Succession de Lefrançois) c. Faille‑Lefrançois (2025 QCCA 481) and Contant c. Rivet (2025 QCCA 831) provide important clarification of Québec law regarding access to testamentary documents and the lifting of the notary’s professional secrecy in the context of challenges to the validity of a will. Both judgments build on prior jurisprudence, particularly Tanzer and….

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Contested wills, Estate Litigation, Testamentary Capacity, Undue influence

Getting Something Back from Charitable Giving

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[caption id="attachment_22206" align="aligncenter" width="423"] Siemens MRI machine[/caption] The common law of charity defines a gift as property that is “freely given without consideration”. That is, a transfer without any expectation of getting something back. It’s an ideal for giving, which often gets tattered and torn in the real world. It has always been so. Medieval Indulgences Perhaps the most famous example of quid pro quo giving are indulgences. In 1517,….

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Philanthropy/Charitable Giving

Equity Over Formality: Oral Property Agreement Enforceable Despite Statute of Frauds

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The recent Ontario decision in Jeffrey v. Jeffrey (2026 ONSC 1959) highlights the circumstances in which a court may enforce an oral agreement concerning property despite the requirements of the Statute of Frauds. The case involved elderly parents who transferred title to their Niagara-on-the-Lake home to their son pursuant to an oral arrangement. In exchange for transferring legal title and a significant amount of equity in the property, the son….

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Uncategorized

Navigating Tax Dual-Residency: Treaty Tie-Breakers

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A sepia-toned scene photographed from above shows a magnifying glass, some photographs, a camera and lens, and an open notebook with a pencil laid across it. A pair of glasses lie in front of the notebook.

Written by Eric Hendry, Associate, Gowling WLG (Canada) LLP What happens when the domestic tax rules of two different countries look at the same person and both conclude that the individual is a tax resident? Navigating situations of “dual tax residency” is becoming increasingly common for estate planners and their clients. Whether for business, family, or lifestyle reasons, more and more Canadians seem to be putting down roots in more….

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Tax Issues

Insights on Consulting a Person with Significant Diminished Capacity – Part 2

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Two women in a retirement home in front of a window, drinking iced tea and eating pound cake. One is the adult daughter of the other woman.

Consulting a person who has significant diminished capacity can be very difficult for both the consultant and the individual. In Part One of this article, we explored a case in which a client with moderately severe dementia gave one answer to a simple question posed by a family member in the morning and the opposite answer to another family member that same afternoon, sparking heated conflict among the siblings. This….

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Elder Management, Smart Ageing, Uncategorized

Mild Cognitive Impairment and Supported Decision-Making

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In my previous blog, I ended the blog with a suggestion that as the population ages, I anticipate the courts will be confronted with more cases of capacity determination in seniors with mild cognitive impairment (MCI), and it will be interesting to see to what extent MCI becomes a diagnosis accepted of causing mental incapacity or not. As a reminder, MCI is not listed as a diagnostic entity in the….

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Capacity Law, Disability, Elder Management
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