Kira Domratchev, Partner, Gowling WLG (Canada) LLP

In my first blog since returning from parental leave, I decided to keep it simple and discuss the importance of obtaining a judgment on settling a matter outside of the court (particularly given the set of facts present in the following case summary).

In a recent decision, the Saskatchewan Court of King’s Bench[1] addressed a scenario where the applicant was owed money but before obtaining judgment, the alleged debtor died. The claim was ultimately settled with a court-appointed representative for the debtor’s estate and the matter was immediately discontinued by the applicant (with no steps taken to reflect the settlement reached in a form of an order or a judgment of the court).

As part of the settlement reached, the applicant was to receive $180,000 to settle the claim but what is curious is that in addition, the settlement purported to direct that Letters of Administration, in Saskatchewan, be granted to the applicant’s lawyer.

The Court refused to grant Letters of Administration for a number of reasons, including but not limited to the following:

• The deceased appeared to be resident of Alberta with the only connection to Saskatchewan being the alleged debt of $180,000;
• The claim itself was discontinued and as the Court put it: “[The applicant] had one, but he ditched it.”;
• Even if the Court had jurisdiction, the applicant, as a creditor, ranks “second-last in priority” for this appointment, especially since the deceased had a spouse;
• The applicant’s lawyer lacked standing to be appointed in a “representative” capacity and is, moreover, as a representative of the applicant, in a conflict of interest; and,
• The Court noted various issues with the mechanics of the settlement, including but not limited to the fact that the deceased’s spouse was not a part of the settlement.

As a result, the application was dismissed with costs.

If the applicant sought a judgment in the original claim, the issues with the mechanics of the settlement would have likely come to light so as to allow the applicant to (hopefully) correct said issues. While the Court may still have felt that the appointment of the applicant or their lawyer as an executor of the deceased’s estate was improper in Saskatchewan, having a judgment of the Court in hand, would have allowed the applicant to seek enforcement steps in Alberta (which is significantly less complicated than having to prove their claim in Court).

[1] Mang v Hofer, 2025 SKKB 21.