Legal Papers
Papers Topic: Estate Litigation
37 PapersEstates, Trusts and Capacity Case Law Update
On September 23-24, Justin de Vries will be speaking at the Frontenac Law Association, 1000 Island Legal Conference in Gananoque, Ontario on the subject of Estates, Trusts and Capacity Case Law Update 2022. We hope you can attend. Happy reading.
Calmusky v Calmusky – An Update
The Superior Court of Justice in Ontario has not followed Calmusky with respect to beneficiary designations.
A Practical Guide to Capacity Assessments in Litigation
The determination of whether a person is incapable is ultimately a legal one not a medical/clinical one. While a report from a certified capacity assessor is not necessarily required, the convention among lawyers and the court is to rely on a capacity assessment as the best evidence of incapacity where capacity is in dispute.
Litigating Intangible Rights: Reputation, Digital Assets, and Endorsement Rights of Influencers
Rapid growths in technology can catalyze changes to the law. But what happens when that growth outpaces legal developments? In this paper, Justin de Vries and Tyler Lin examine the disruptive effects that recent breakthroughs in technology has had on the field of estate litigation. Part I of this paper covers the arrival of the…read more
Moore v Sweet: Unjust Enrichment and Constructive Trusts
The Supreme Court of Canada’s recent decision in Moore v. Sweet provides meaningful clarification on the Canadian law of unjust enrichment and the equitable concept of constructive trusts.
Reigning In Frivolous Will Challenges
In Seepa v. Seepa, Justice Myers declined to grant a consent order for directions in a will challenge case, and instead required the parties to argue the issue on the merits. In order to obtain disclosure and procedural rights in such cases, Justice Myers indicated that bald allegations of lack of testamentary capacity and undue…read more
Recent Estate Cases that made a Difference and Why you Should Care
2016 saw the release of numerous interesting and important estates and trusts decisions. Justin de Vries and Joanna Lindenberg have summarized the top cases from the year and explained their impact on estates and trusts law. Starting with a discussion of the Court of Appeal decision in Spence v. BMO Trust Company, this paper also touches on…read more
Passing of Accounts and Business Assets
Passing the Trustee’s Accounts When There Are Business Assets At the beneficiaries’ insistence, or at his own initiation, a trustee[i] may apply to court to pass his accounts. Once in court passing format, the accounts will list the deceased’s assets as of date of death, and trace any subsequent disposition of those assets. However, where…read more
Case Comment: Re: Estate of Dominico Grillo
Can an Ontario litigant bring a will challenge here to set aside a will made in Italy? This interesting question was recently answered affirmatively by Justice Newbould in the recent decision in Re Estate of Domenico Grillo. Read Angela’s case comment here.
Litigating Estate Disputes With Multi-Jurisdictional Assets
In today’s increasingly cosmopolitan world, it is not unusual for someone to own property in more than one jurisdiction. When a dispute arises with respect to the estate of a deceased with assets in multiple jurisdictions, there are several distinct but related issues that the estate litigator must consider. First, one must consider which jurisdiction’s…read more