Justin de Vries

Claims By or Against Estates Expire After Two Years

The decision of the Ontario Divisional Court in Cerqueira Estate v Ontario provides a useful discussion of the differences between the limitation periods in the Limitation Act and in the Trustee Act.  Whereas limitation periods under the Limitations Act begin running as soon as the cause of the claim is discovered (the principle of discoverability),

Costs, Court Procedure, Estate Litigation, Other Claims & Remedies Against Estates

Salvador Dali, Melting Clocks, Financial Incapacity, and the Removal of an Attorney for Property!

“If the drawing of the clock was akin to Salvador Dali’s paintings, it would not bode well.” Colourful words from Justice Whitten who relied on the court’s parens patriae jurisdiction to remove an attorney for property. The drawing of an ordinary clock is often administered to determine “intellectual acuity”.  Salvador Dali’s iconic image of a

Passing of Accounts

Summary Judgment – No Longer for the Brave or Foolhardy

The recent decision of the Supreme Court of Canada (SCC) in Hryniak heralds a sea change in summary judgment motions in Ontario and will have a profound impact on estate litigation. Many lawyers in Ontario have long groused that the Ontario Court of Appeal (OCA) was overly restrictive in its interpretation of summary judgment rules both before

Estate Litigation
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