Jonathon Vander Zee

A court’s authority to make certain orders or decisions is not always founded in legislation or established case law. In the right circumstances, the court may find its authority from its inherent jurisdiction to do certain things, such as preventing abuse of process, controlling procedure, or protecting vulnerable parties. One such example is the parens patriae jurisdiction, which is founded on necessity and the need to act for the protection of those….

It is not uncommon for a person to execute their last will and testament many years, even decades, before they eventually pass away. It is also not uncommon for a person to move provinces, states, countries, etc. throughout their adult lifetime. In the estates context, that may result in various different scenarios in which related testamentary documents are executed in different jurisdictions. For example, a person may execute a will….

Solicitor-client privilege is a fundamental legal principle that protects communications between lawyers and their clients. This principle allows clients to speak freely in front of their lawyers without fear of their conversations being disclosed to anyone else. In the estates world, the question can sometimes become, what happens to solicitor-client privilege when the client dies and production of the solicitor’s file is sought? The recent case of Butt et al…..

Section 35 of the Evidence Act, R.S.O. 1990, c. E.23 (“EA”) is often referred to as the “business records” exception to the rule against hearsay. That is because, under certain circumstances, section 35 of the EA allows business records (which are defined in section 35(1)) to be filed and admissible as evidence where the information in that document might otherwise be traditionally considered as hearsay. In order to qualify as….

Two weeks ago, I posted Part I of this series. This blog is the second edition, as promised, and will detail 3 more recently released decisions that have had a lasting impact in the estate litigation and planning worlds. Salmon v. Rombough, 2024 ONSC 1186 This decisions applies the (fairly) newly entrenched section 21.1 of the Succession Law Reform Act (“SLRA”), which allows documents to be recognized as valid wills….

Throughout 2024 and into early 2025, the Courts released many riveting and groundbreaking decisions that have had an echoing effect throughout the estate litigation world. This blog will detail 5 of those decisions and cover a variety of topics and issues relevant to estate litigation and planning. A second blog acting as a “Part II” detailing other important decisions will be coming soon to a blog website near you. Tessaro….