Canadians are charitable people. According to Statistics Canada, 82% of Canadians made a financial donation to a charitable or non-profit organization in 2013 (the latest year statistics are available). The amount given by donors increased from an annual average of $469 in 2004 to $531 in 2013. The most generous…
University of New Hampshire library cataloger and alumnus Robert Morin died in 2015 at the age of 77. Morin, known for his thrifty lifestyle, spent little on food or clothes, and drove a 1992 Plymouth until his death. His will bequeathed a $4 million fortune to his employer, with the…
In a recent episode of the Starz TV show The Girlfriend Experience, an unusual estate administration issue arose (mild spoilers ahead). The show tells the story of Christine Reade (Riley Keough), a law student and intern who secretly moonlights as a high end escort in Chicago (a thinly disguised Toronto serves…
Over the past year, the saga of billionaire Sumner Redstone’s estate and capacity fight has continued to play out in the United States. Redstone, an American media magnate, was the subject of a lawsuit brought by Manuela Herzer, a former girlfriend. Herzer alleged that the CBS Corporation and Viacom owner…
Last year, a son was accused of murdering his parents in Connecticut after they threatened to take him out of their will. There have been a handful of cases over the past century in Canada with similar tragic circumstances. The long established rule in Canada (known as the “slayer rule”…
One way for a party to set aside a trust agreement is by arguing that the settlor of a trust made a mistake about the trust. The concept, often found in contract law, is known as non est factum (note that a trust deed can be seen as a contract). The doctrine applies where…
A claim in quantum meruit is sometimes made in the estates litigation context by a disappointed beneficiary. The words quantum meruit literally mean “as much as deserved.” The claimant argues that he or she deserved compensation from the deceased for work that was done but was not properly compensated for…
The Divisional Court recently released its decision in Dagg v. Cameron Estate (the trial decision was previously discussed on this blog here). In brief, the appellant Anastasia Cameron married the deceased, Stephen Cameron, in 2003. They had two children. Stephen took out a life insurance policy in 2010 and named…
The sale of a 1957 Ferrari 335 Sport Scaglietti for 32 million euros (about $35.8 million US, or $50.2 million Canadian) earlier this month set the record for the most expensive car ever sold at an auction, the New York Times reported. It also made waves for what the Times…
Research in the United States has consistently shown that the vast majority of parents intend to divide their estates equally among their children (there appears to be far less research on the topic in Canada). Intriguingly, this is in contrast with inter vivos transfers – research has shown that children are…
