The ‘Loser Pays’ Principle In estate litigation, costs awards follow the ‘loser pays’ principle. Generally, this means the losing party has to pay a portion of the winning party’s costs. Typically, the winning party is entitled to their ‘partial indemnity costs’ (i.e., the losing party pays 30-50% of the winning party’s costs). However, in some […]
In a discretionary trust, the trustees are given complete discretion concerning distributions of income or capital. The trustees may have the discretion to choose the timing of the distributions, as well as the recipients, amounts, and conditions of the distributions. The trustees may also have the discretion to exclude any one or more of the
In Ontario, most legal claims are subject to the basic two-year limitation period set out in Section 4 of the Limitations Act, 2002, SO 2002, c 24, Sch B (the “Limitations Act”). This basic limitation period requires legal claims to be brought within two years of the day on which the claim is first discovered.
Minors and incapable persons are protected in a variety of ways in Ontario’s court system. One form of protection comes through Rule 7 of Ontario’s Rules of Civil Procedure (the “Rules”). In particular, subrule 7.08(1) provides: “No settlement of a claim made by or against a person under disability, whether or not a proceeding has
Litigation is long, expensive, and stressful, and its outcome is never certain. This is why lawyers often encourage their clients to attempt to mediate their legal problems outside the court room. If a mediation is successful, the parties will enter into a settlement agreement which sets out the terms under which the parties agree to
