Estate Litigation

Total 411 Posts

Estates Administration Act Thwarts Dependant Support Claim

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In MacDonald v. Estate of James Pouliot, 2017 ONSC 3629, the court considered a constructive trust and dependant support claim against an intestate estate. While the court granted a constructive trust, it dismissed the dependant support claim as the property at issue had already automatically vested in the beneficiary pursuant to section 9 of the Estates Administration Act. Mary and James lived together as common law spouses for 22 years,….

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Estate Litigation

Triumph of the Trustee Act

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You may be forgiven for thinking that the expression “clear as mud” was created specifically to describe limitation periods. The policy rationale behind limitation periods is to create certainty and predictability by establishing a firm deadline by which a claim must be brought or else the claim is lost forever. However, figuring out the limitation period may be difficult, especially when multiple statutes establish different limitation periods that apply to….

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Estate Litigation

You Shall be Released

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A recent Ontario Court of Appeal (“ONCA”) decision, though not an estate case specifically, is an important read for all litigators and parties who settle their disputes outside of the courtroom. In the case of Biancaniello v. DMCT LLP, 2017 ONCA 386 (CanLII), the parties signed a mutual release to settle an action. Several years later, an unanticipated claim arose and the question before the ONCA was whether the release….

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Estate Litigation

A Statue in the Wrong Square

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Regular readers of the All About Estates blog may recall that each spring I write on legacy and how we honour the dead.  This usually involves a trip to a cemetery.  My cemetery visit this year was thwarted by a seagull attack – see my Hitchcockian video – so instead I will turn my attention to a historical bequest and recognition debacle. Bartolomeo Colleoni (1400-1475) was Lombardy-born general who served….

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Estate Donations, Estate Litigation, Philanthropy/Charitable Giving

When is a Minor a Major or Super Minor and What Does it Mean?

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At law, a child under the age of 18 is considered a party under disability (i.e. a “minor”).  As a result, a minor is treated somewhat differently by the courts.  For example, a minor must be represented by a court appointed litigation guardian in civil court proceedings.  In addition, limitation periods do not run against a minor’s interest until such time as a litigation guardian is appointed.  But not all….

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Capacity Law, Estate Litigation

Court of Appeal Limits Dependant Support Claw Back

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The family law bar must be breathing a sigh of relief after reading the Court of Appeal’s decision in Dagg v. Cameron Estate, 2017 ONCA 366. Both the application judge and the Divisional Court (discussed on this blog, respectively, here and here) held that a life insurance policy taken out pursuant to a separation agreement could be clawed back into the estate for a dependant support claim by the subsequent….

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Estate Litigation
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