Counsel faced with responding to frivolous objections to an application for a certificate of appointment of estate trustee may wish to consider rule 25.11 of the Rules of Civil Procedure. Rule 25.11 allows the court to strike out (all or part of) a pleading, without leave to amend, on the…
Some losses suffered by the estate due to litigation cannot be recovered.
The recent case of Novak v. McDougall, (2019 SKQB 261), confirms that when you have accepted an appointment to be trustee, you may not be able to have yourself removed from that appointment without a suitable replacement. The applicant in this case, a beneficiary of a “Henson” trust (basically defined…
Most transactions between parties not at arm’s length with each other (often described as related parties, such as family members), the parties to the transaction are subject to a one-sided adjustment where the transaction proceeds does not equal fair market value (“FMV”). If the price exceeds FMV, then the cost…
A “passing of accounts” refers to the process of formally preparing and presenting accounts to the beneficiaries and the court. The accounts are either approved (i.e., “passed”) in the form presented, amended by court order and passed in revised form, or not passed because the court is not satisfied with…
I am in the middle of a very difficult Canada Revenue Agency audit of a taxpayer’s claim for the principal residence exemption. It now appears the property in question, built by my client some 25 years ago may not qualify for the full exemption due to the fact that the…
In the work I do, I am asked to provide expert testimony to support litigation. In some cases, I am often quite surprised to what extent parties will continue to litigate matters that appear to be “no-wins” or for small dollar amounts. Depending on the circumstances, parties have taken the…
There are numerous technical traps a lawsuit can fall into which will need to be corrected before the matter moves forward. Generally speaking, the current norms of practice are for the parties to sort out any technical deficiencies between themselves so court time can be devoted to arguing the substantive…
In my practice, I have been engaged on valuation matters which, on occasion despite the efforts of all those involved, go to trial to have a trial judge settle for the parties. Most trials are expensive and the actual outcome is not always certain, no matter how strong one side…
Our Ontario government is short sighted. We/They have not planned well for the changing and aging of our society. There simply is no place for those of us who need care and are not fortunate enough to either have the funds to pay for it themselves or have the necessary…
