When everybody knows your name but very few know you. I read an obit that appeared as an announcement in a sports blog from markhebscher who read about it from Scott@randomjaysstuff. The announcement read ‘Toronto’s Witness to Sports History is Dead’. Oddly enough I knew Ralph, or should I say…
As a common law jurisdiction with our roots in the United Kingdom it is understandable we have an interest in what happens “across the pond”. The UK has recently updated their inheritance laws and made large changes to their intestacy laws. Normally we look to the UK for changes but…
My colleague, Diane Vieira, recently blogged about the Divisional Court’s decision in Quinn v. Carrigan. While she highlighted what the case had to say about the proper approach to determining dependant’s support, the case is also instructive on who should bear the costs of a dependant support application. Prior to…
“For most people in the developed world, conversations about such topics (as death) never take place. Young people remark in passing that they would rather be dead than go into a nursing home; that they do not want to die in hospital; that they do not want a drawn-out, agonising…
The background in Quinn vs Carrigan is well known to estate and family law litigators as the parties have been involved in extensive litigation, including two trials and two appeals. The first trial and its subsequent appeal, which focused on the issue of who is a “spouse” pursuant to the…
‘Hot-tubbing’ (also known as ‘concurrent evidence’) is a practice that has become popular in Australian courts and has recently been adopted by English courts and only very recently by Canadian courts (Antonia Croake and Louise Mallon, Commercial Litigation Newsletter, October 2013 ; Ruth Corbin, Advocates Journal Spring 2014). The technique…
Under most circumstances, citizens of the United States must file annual income tax returns regardless of residency. In 2012, the Internal Revenue Service (“IRS”) introduced 2 voluntary compliance programs to allow US citizens to comply with their income tax filing obligations thereby avoiding possible criminal prosecution and penalties: 1. the…
A recent decision of Justice D. M. Brown, Re Estate of Albert Applegath III, provides an overview of the necessary steps a foreign executor must take to have her authority recognized in Ontario. Albert Applegath III died a resident of New Mexico. His will appointed his wife, Clavis, as executor…
