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…
Leaving aside other means of severance, including that which occurs on bankruptcy or by judicial sale, there are three main ways to sever a joint tenancy: Unilaterally acting on one’s own share, such as selling or encumbering it; A mutual agreement between the co-owners to sever the joint tenancy; and…
During her marriage, a spouse inhabited a home wholly owned by her husband. He passed away and the house became an asset of the estate. Subsequent to her husband’s passing, the spouse purchased a new property. She had not re-married or entered into any common law partnership. Is the spouse…
It is well known that Ontario testators enjoy the freedom to distribute their estates as they wish (provided their statutory obligations are met); however, the recent case of RBC v. Scarborough, 2019 ONSC 3369, reminds readers to be cognizant of the impact of debts and liabilities upon those who may…
Can you be a tenant and an equitable owner of a property? Absolutely! Read how you can have it all in Warraich v Choudhry et al, 2019 ONSC 2656. In March 2012, Choudhry purchased a property for $519,000.00. In April 2012, Warraich, one of Choudhry’s friends, moved into the property…
McGoey (Re), 2019 ONSC 80 (CanLII) is a fun case which reminds readers of the law surrounding sham trusts, but also demonstrates that the most convincing evidence can sometimes be found right on the (type)face of a document, the validity of which is in issue. In this motion, the trustee…
Today’s blog was co-written by Ronald Neal. In Sinclair v Harris, Justice Nakatsuru granted summary judgment on the basis that the claims advanced on behalf of the estate were statute-barred. The deceased passed away in November 2015. The Plaintiffs are the estate trustees appointed in the deceased’s will (the “Estate Trustees”). Five years…
Ownership of assets into ‘joint tenancy with right of survivorship” is a mechanism of ownership transfer commonly used for estate planning to address such issues as probate fee and tax avoidance. Recently, this blog site very capably addressed the issues surrounding “joint tenancy” of life insurance in particular (“Life Insurance…
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…
I think it is fair to say that joint ownership of property[2] is one of the most commonly used strategies for property ownership in the context of developing an estate plan. Like any form of partnership, there are many issues to consider in jointly owning property. In the context of…
