Jonathon Vander Zee

Total 15 Posts

Jonathon is a junior estates litigator at de VRIES LITIGATION LLP. He obtained his law degree from the University of Sussex in Brighton, England. Jonathon’s time at law school in England was part of a double degree program in which he also earned a Bachelor of Arts specializing in Law and Society from Wilfrid Laurier University. Jonathon joined de VRIES LITIGATION LLP in June 2022 as a summer student and returned to the firm as an articling student in August 2023. Jonathon was called to the bar in June 2024 and remained with the firm after his call as an associate.

When will the Court Pass Over an Estate Trustee?

In the recent case of Sassano v. Iozzo, 2024 ONSC 1517, the Court reviewed the applicable legal principles regarding passing over an estate trustee, and found that in the circumstances of the case, it was appropriate to pass over one of the named co-estate trustees. In this case, the applicant sought, among other relief, the removal of the respondent, her sister, as an estate trustee of their mother’s estate. Their….

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Section 3 Counsel’s Entitlement to Costs

The Court in Gadula v Leroux, 2016 ONSC 6990 provided quite an interesting discussion regarding the entitlement of costs for all parties involved in a guardianship application and from where the costs were to be taken from. The issue of costs is unsurprisingly common in estate litigation and in litigation in general, because let’s face it, nobody likes spending money. The court made some especially intriguing comments regarding the entitlement….

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Disclosure of Medical Records: Privacy Matters

In Gilbert v. Girouard, 2023 ONSC 4445, a brother and sister brought a challenge to their father’s wills. The siblings alleged that their third sibling, who was named as estate trustee, exerted undue influence over their father. They also alleged that their father lacked testamentary capacity at the time of signing the wills. In order to gather the necessary evidence to support their claim, the siblings brought a motion to….

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Contested wills, Estate Litigation, Estate Planning, Executors, Family Conflict, Testamentary Capacity, Undue influence, Wills
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