In an earlier blog by fellow blogger Jasmine Sweatman, she commented on the emerging principle of proportionality in our judicial system and how it might impact on a fiduciary’s duty to pass accounts. She queried: Where does proportionality “fit” with the right of a beneficiary of an estate or trust to review and make inquiries of the […] Read More
In a recent case, the court had to determine if a notice of objection to the issuance of an appointment of an estate trustee could be filed after summary judgment had been granted, striking another objector’s objections as invalid and a certificate of appointment had been issued to the estate trustees. By way of background, the Read More
May an attorney for property mix his own funds with that of the incapable person? The short answer is: never. But the consequences for a well-meaning but ill-advised client might not be as dire as we litigators sometimes would expect. In the recent case of Villa v. Villa 2013 ONSC 2202, two brothers, Renzo and Enzo Villa, clashed Read More
In a recent decision by the Ontario Court of Appeal, the court turned its attention to a frequently encountered issue in civil litigation: under what circumstances should an action be dismissed for delay by the court following a status hearing? The appellant (plaintiff) appealed a lower court order dismissing the action for delay after a status hearing. Read More
Among the general public, there is a perception that despite being a legal document, creating a will does not require the services of an estate solicitor. There are numerous do-it yourself kits and online services that offer a “fill in the blanks” approach to creating a will. As an estate litigator, I usually see when Read More
