All About Estates

Category: Estate Litigation

Total 371 Posts

Common Law Spouse Brings an Unjust Enrichment Claim

In Lynk v Bennett Estate, a common law spouse brought an unjust enrichment claim against her late partner’s estate The Deceased, Mr. Bennett, had separated from his wife, Mrs. Bennett in 2004 but never divorced.  He entered into a common law relationship with Ms. Lynk.  They resided together for 15…

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Will Challenges and Limitation Periods: Court of Appeal Weighs In

The question of whether will challenges fall under the standard two-year limitation period has long been a topic of consideration in lower courts[1]. Does the limitation clock start ticking at the date of death, upon discovering the existence of another will, or when there is knowledge of both the existence and content of another will? The Court of Appeal has finally spoken on the issue … well, sort of.

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Summary Judgment in Estate Litigation, and the Role of a Financial Advisor as a Witness

It is widely known by estate litigation lawyers that the courts are clogged with disputes, often leading to lengthy delays in the obtaining hearing or trial dates.  Summary judgment is one way that the courts can decide cases efficiently.  To achieve a just result, a lengthy trial with oral testimony…

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Does an Adult Child have an Obligation to Support their Parent?

*This blog was researched and authored by Jonathon Vander Zee, who is an articling student with de VRIES LITIGATION LLP.  There are many different kinds of support that can be sought as relief in a legal proceeding, such as child support, spousal support, and dependant’s support. These types of support…

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Contempt of Court

We’ve all heard of contempt of court, a common fixture in many courtroom dramas and law-related TV shows. In reality, civil contempt of court is quite uncommon, arising only on occasion during contentious litigation. In the estates context, contempt of court is most often linked to a party’s refusal to…

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Standing to Bring a Trust Claim – When You Need to Sit Down

There are a few occasions when you want someone who is not you to have as much money as possible. The first situation is when you are a beneficiary of their estate. The second situation is when you seeking an equalization payment under the Family Law Act. In both situations,…

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Father Time: A Limitation Period Refresher

As the holiday season is upon us and the new year approaches, many of us are thinking about time. For those in the litigation world, time, and more specifically, limitation periods, should always be top of mind. This blog serves as a refresher for some of the limitation periods that…

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Proportionality and costs awards

In Fanelli v. Fanelli-Bruno, 2023 ONSC 6501, Justice Myers provided clear direction on the principle of proportionality in litigation, and the ways in which it can influence a decision on costs.   The decision The estate of Ms. Lina Fanelli, the mother of the Applicant and Respondent, was the subject…

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Can a Disbarred Lawyer be an Executor?

In Re James Estate, 2023 ONSC 6432, the Court considered whether a disbarred lawyer could act as the estate trustee of an estate.

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Factors to Consider when Rebutting the Presumption that a Lost Will was Destroyed by the Testator

Today’s blog was written by Jonathon Vander Zee, student-at-law at de VRIES LITIGATION LLP The original copy of a last will and testament is lost and cannot be found… now what? Losing an original copy of a will does not necessarily mean that it is no longer legally binding or…

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