Jonathon Vander Zee

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….

In estate litigation, especially in cases where the litigation has been prolonged for an extended period of time and the file has accumulated hours upon hours of manpower, costs can be (and often are) a contentious issue between the parties. There are a few different ways in which costs may be dealt with, such as: costs being awarded out of the estate to one or both of the parties, an….