Jonathon Vander Zee

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….

It is not uncommon that a person will add someone else, often times a family member, to their bank accounts as a joint owner or create a new bank account with that person as a joint owner in order to avoid probate fees. This may also be done with other assets as well, such as properties. However, disputes may arise as to whether, on the death of the one account….

Just over one year ago, I blogged about Jackson v. Rosenberg, 2023 ONSC 4403, a case that shed light on the relationship between severance of a joint tenancy and the subsequent effect on a gifted right of survivorship. As it turns out, the application judge’s decision was appealed, with the Court of Appeal releasing its decision in December 2024. The Application Judge’s Decision For a more detailed explanation of the….

Today’s post was written by guest blogger, Melissa Miller, Partner at Howie, Sacks & Henry LLP. Ask anyone whether admission to a nursing home is part of their retirement plan and they will likely say, “I’ll never go to one of those places”, or something worse. As we all know, the best laid intentions do not always go as planned. Many of us will have family with complex health issues….