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Wills, Trusts & Estates

  • December 19, 2024

    Mortgage relief measures saved Canadians $4 million in penalties, says Financial Consumer Agency

    The Financial Consumer Agency of Canada (FCAC) has published a report saying that Canadians with mortgages from federally regulated financial institutions (FRFIs) have benefited from more than 8,000 mortgage relief measures in the 12 months to June of this year.

  • December 17, 2024

    WILLS - Testator’s intention to be given effect - Gifts - Failure of - Lapse

    Appeal by Schneider from special chambers judge's interpretation of her mother’s will, Dorothy Maruzs (Dorothy) and determining that Logan Maruzs (Logan) and Ericka Anderson (Ericka), children of Schneider’s deceased brother Vincent Maruzs (Vincent), would inherit six quarter sections of farmland; applications to admit new evidence.

  • December 17, 2024

    Vavilov at five | Sara Blake

    Five years ago, on Dec. 19, 2019, the Supreme Court of Canada, in Canada (Minister of Citizenship and Immigration) v. Vavilov, 2019 SCC 65, re-set the standard of review for questions of statutory interpretation. In that case, and two others decided in the same week, the court demonstrated how the new standard of review is to be applied.

  • December 16, 2024

    Federal fiscal update after Freeland’s shock departure features tax, legal changes of note to bar

    Boosting the number of judges in Ontario’s Unified Family Court and Court of Appeal, making “bail and sentencing laws stricter,” and new civil remedies — and criminal penalties of up to $1 million for corporations — under the Bankruptcy and Insolvency Act, were among the new measures proposed in the 2024 fall fiscal update by the minority Liberal government after Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland stunned Ottawa by resigning from the Cabinet a few hours earlier.

  • December 16, 2024

    Two Montreal law firms join forces

    Spiegel Sohmer and Ravinsky Ryan Lemoine have decided to merge and will operate under the new name of Spiegel Ryan as of Jan. 1, 2025.

  • December 13, 2024

    Estate planning using options to purchase and right of first refusal

    In the realm of estate litigation, the interpretation of will clauses that include options to purchase and rights of first refusal seems to be coming up more and more frequently. Recent cases like Cambareri v. Sorrenti, 2023 ONSC 4918, and Zboya v. Hicks, 2024 ABKB 525, to name a few, indicate that there is growing interest in will drafting and estate planning that includes options to purchase estate property, or alternatively, gives beneficiaries a right of first refusal to purchase such property.

  • December 11, 2024

    Ontario appeal decision clarifies ‘murky area of real estate law,’ lawyer says

    Ontario’s top court has outlined what happens to the right of survivorship if a property owner severs a joint tenancy, something a lawyer involved in the case is calling a useful clarification for a “murky area” of real estate law.

  • December 10, 2024

    Date of death: Determining commencement of the limitation period

    In our last article with Law360 Canada, Palak Mahajan and I wrote about the relevance of the recent decision of Ingram v. Kulynych Estate, 2024 ONCA 678, with respect to limitation periods. Limitation periods continue to be an overarching factor that plays one of the most important roles of every file/case that comes through the door. Another case that exemplifies the significance of limitation periods is Shannon v. Hrabovsky, 2024 ONCA 188 (Shannon), by the Court of Appeal, which addressed the issue of when the discoverability principle applies to estate claims and whether the limitation period runs from the date of death of the testator.

  • December 06, 2024

    3 new associates join Aird & Berlis

    A recent news release from Aird & Berlis LLP announced the addition of Daniel Hunter, Linda Guma and Evan Pernica as associates.

  • December 06, 2024

    PROCEEDINGS - Appeals and judicial review - Standard of review - Palpable and overriding error

    Appeal by Flanigan from dismissal of his application for family maintenance and support (FMS) against the estate of his late adult interdependent partner, Kirkland. Kirkland died on November 12, 2022, leaving her estate equally to her children in a will dated September 2, 2021, with no provision for Flanigan. The Court of King's Bench issued a grant of probate on February 9, 2023.