Elaine Yu

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Elaine obtained her law degree from Osgoode Hall Law School. Elaine articled with the Office of the Public Guardian and Trustee and returned as counsel after she was called to the bar in June 2021. Elaine joined de VRIES LITIGATION LLP in June 2022. Elaine has represented clients in a wide range of proceedings including dependant’s relief claims, guardianship applications, trust claims, and other estates and trust issues. Elaine is a member of the Association des jurists d’expression française de l’Ontario and is fluent in French. More of Elaine's blogs can be found at https://devrieslitigation.com/author/eyu/

Recent Cases Applying Section 21.1 of the SLRA

Having come into force on January 1, 2022, Section 21.1 is a relatively recent addition to the Succession Law Reform Act (“SLRA”). Section 21.1 is a validating provision, which allows the courts discretion to declare a will valid even if it does not meet the formalities of execution set out under section 4 of the same act. Those formalities are as follows: The will must be signed by the testator….

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Estate Administration and Probate Applications, Estate Planning, Succession Planning, Wills

Chat, j’ai pété (and left a stink)

Since the widespread launch of cheap, accessible, generative AI platforms like Open AI’s ChatGPT, Bing Chat, Google Bard, Cohere Coral, etc. we’ve all read the news articles and blog posts written using AI to show off the possibilities these new tools present. In the legal industry, there’s buzz around the potential applications of AI when it comes to drafting, research, and streamlining simple tasks. However, one BC lawyer has demonstrated….

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Uncategorized

Your Wish is my Command

A guardian or attorney for personal care has a duty to make decisions in accordance with an incapable person’s wishes or instructions as they were when the person was capable. The guardian or attorney also has an obligation to try and ascertain such wishes and instructions. If it is impossible to ascertain someone’s wishes, the guardian or attorney must make decisions that are in the person’s best interests.[1] However, even….

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Guardianship, Power of Attorney, Powers Of Attorney and Guardianship Disputes

Factors to Consider when Rebutting the Presumption that a Lost Will was Destroyed by the Testator

Today’s blog was written by Jonathon Vander Zee, student-at-law at de VRIES LITIGATION LLP The original copy of a last will and testament is lost and cannot be found… now what? Losing an original copy of a will does not necessarily mean that it is no longer legally binding or invalid. Where a copy of the original will exists, a party may make an application to the court to have….

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Estate Administration, Estate Administration and Probate Applications, Estate Litigation, Uncategorized

When the End is not the end

In theory, obtaining a judgement should mark the end of litigation. In practice, it can be the beginning of the just as tedious process of collecting on the judgement by way of enforcement proceedings. The plaintiff in the case of Akhavan v Taheri found this out the hard way. On December 24, 2020, the plaintiff, Akhavan, obtained a judgement in the amount of some $2.4 million dollars plus costs. The….

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Estate Litigation, Interest

You’ve been served!

The Originating Process One of the first steps taken in any court procedure is service of the originating process. Whether the procedure is by action or application, service of the originating process puts parties and others who may be affected by the outcome on notice that a legal proceeding has started. In estate litigation there may be a number of parties who need to be served at the outset of….

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Estate Litigation
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