Hull On Estates

This week on Hull on Estates, Jonathon Kappy and Nick Esterbauer discuss the recent decision of the Manitoba Court of Queen’s Bench in Garwood v. Garwood Estate, 2016 MBQB 113, 19 E.T.R. (4th) 55, which raises issues of knowledge and approval, suspicious circumstances, and shifting evidentiary presumptions within the context of a will challenge.

This week on Hull on Estates, Natalia Angelini and Stuart Clark discuss the recent decision of Lavoie v. Trudel, 2016 ONSC 4141 (), costs reported at 2016 ONSC 4769, and the circumstance in which the court ordered all parties to bear their own costs in a will challenge notwithstanding that the challenge was not successful.

This week on Hull on Estates, Paul Trudelle and Umair Abdul Qadir discuss limitation periods for dependant’s support claims, seeking leave to extend the limitation period under the Succession Law Reform Act and the recent Ontario Superior Court Justice decision in Weigand v Weigand Estate, 2016 ONSC 6201 (). "

This week on Hull on Estates, David Morgan Smith and Lisa Haseley discuss equalization claims and the court's discretion to award an unequal division of the net family property. Chechui v. Nieman, 2016 ONSC 1905, 2016 CarswellOnt 7547 (http://bit.ly/2cUY8bk)

This week on Hull on Estates, Jonathan Kappy and Laura Betts discuss a recent decision of the Supreme Court of British Columbia, Eastman v Eastman Estate 2016 BCSC 1728 ()

This week on Hull on Estates, Ian Hull and Noah Weisberg discuss the development of testamentary capacity and steps a drafting solicitor should take in this regard.

This week on Hull on Estates, Natalia Angelini and Doreen So discuss the issues surrounding a client’s capacity to instruct counsel.

This week on Hull on Estates, Natalia Angelini and Umair Abdul Qadir discuss Catto v Catto, 2016 ONSC 3025 (http://bit.ly/2cLwM6I), and the conflicts that can arise over funeral and burial arrangements on an intestacy. Read more about the Catto decision on our blog (http://bit.ly/2c4dOH3). And for more on the duty of the Estate Trustee to make funeral and burial arrangements, be sure to check out a paper from our Estate, Trust and Capacity Law Breakfast Series entitled “The Moment of Death and Beyond: Preliminary Duties of the Estate Trustee”. (http://bit.ly/2cJeekY)    

This week on Hull on Estates, Paul Trudelle and Laura Betts discuss Poitras Estate v Poitras, 2015 ONSC 5049, () a recent decision of the Ontario Superior Court of Justice, released August 9, 2016, which deals with the issues of testamentary capacity, undue influence, suspicious circumstances and dependant’s support.

This week on Hull on Estates, David Smith and Nick Esterbauer discuss the principle of indemnification of estate trustees and the recent case of the Ontario Court of Appeal in Brown v. Rigsby, 2016 ONCA 521. (http://bit.ly/2biTez3)

This week on Hull on Estates, Jonathon Kappy and Lisa Haseley discuss criminal implications of breaching fiduciary duties.

This week on Hull on Estates, Natalia Angelini and Noah Weisberg discuss the Ontario Superior Court of Justice decision in Taylor-Reid v Taylor as it relates to summary judgment and undue influence. (http://bit.ly/2aKFIUC)

 This week on Hull on Estates, Ian M. Hull and Stuart Clark discuss mala fides and bad faith, and when the court will interfere with a Trustee’s discretion.

This week on Hull on Estates, David Smith and Doreen So discuss life tenants, house expenses, and dependant support claims, in the context of Re Goodfriend Estate, [2003] OJ No. 4291. (http://bit.ly/2aogyhb)

This week on Hull on Estates, Jonathon Kappy and Nick Esterbauer discuss the concept of mutual wills and the recent decision of the Ontario Superior Court of Justice in Rammage v. Roussel Estate. ()

This week on Hull on Estates, Natalia Angelini and Umair Abdul Qadir discuss life insurance in the context of two articles, namely, “That’s Life Insurance” by Michael Grob, published in the June 2016 edition of Step Journal () and “Charitable Donations: A Summary of Tax Considerations” by James M. Parks, published in the Canadian Donors Guide 2016/17 ().

Download - Hightail This week on Hull on Estates, Natalia Angelini and Lisa Haseley discuss Britta L. McKenna’s paper, “Expatriation of U.S. Citizenship or Long-Term Resident Status”, which was presented at The Six-Minute Estates Lawyer OBA conference on May 3, 2016.  

This week on Hull on Estates, Paul Trudelle and Umair Abdul Qadir discuss awards for costs and the Court’s consideration of offers to settle in . Read more about the Sorozan decision . Should you have any questions, please email us at or leave a comment on our blog.   

This week on Hull on Estates, Jonathon Kappy and Stuart Clark discuss Besaw Estate v. Besaw, 2015 CanLII 62411 (http://bit.ly/28Qumyo), and whether the court can admit a Will to probate when one of the attesting witnesses gives evidence that they don’t recall witnessing the Will.

This week on Hull on Estates, Natalia Angelini and Noah Weisberg discuss the relationship between estate freezes and trusts as considered in Donovan Waters’ article located in the Estates and Trusts Pension Journal.