Elsewhere we have discussed Deeds of Gift. I direct our loyal readers to the blog titled “Start with no one gets anything for nothing…”. One of the main purposes of a deed of gift is rock solid proof that indeed a gift was intended, and also to take advantage of various provisions of the Family […]
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One of the underused statutes in the area of Estate Litigation and Probate is The Estates Act. This 52 paragraph Act lives in the shadow of its substantial brother The Succession Law Reform Act. However, it contains many useful tools to those involved in a fight over probate and the validity of a Will. One […]
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Substantial Compliance – Fixing a Defective Will After Death Part 3 In the first 2 parts of this commentary on the Meyer case ( Part 1 and Part 2 ) which primarily discusses a surrogate signing a will, we saw how a “Probate” application failed. However when one looks at the case from a present day […]
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A Promise to Make a Gift Part 2 In Part 1 of this blog we looked at the Meyer case and examined getting someone else to sign the will on behalf of a disabled Testator. It was part of an application for “Probate” that failed. And what of the written promise to transfer the house […]
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Part 1 The Succession Law Reform Act, section 4 (1) (a) sets out one of the basic requirements of a valid Will, specifically “…a Will is not valid unless it is signed by the testator or by some other person in his or her presence and by his or her direction;”. Testator is the formal […]
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There are many areas of law that recommend independent legal advice. Independent legal advice or ILA is one of the few things in life that exactly describes itself! It is legal advice given, independent of formal representation. Most commonly, where a person is not formally represented by legal counsel it is recommended that they obtain […]
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Every November the Ontario Bar Association, an organization of 16,000 lawyers, judges, notaries, law teachers, and students, celebrates Make a Will Month. It is an opportunity for members of the legal community to help educate the public about the importance of having a will and having it done by a lawyer. This year, we have Fred […]
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For a Will to be valid, some minimal factors need to be present. Most of them are just common sense. These include the basic concept that the Will Maker aka the Testator needs to understand what they are doing and cannot be forced into making a Will. Formalities under the Succession Law Reform Act also […]
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It makes common sense that a Will only applies to the net assets owned by the Will Maker, aka the testator, that he or she had on the date of their death. However, it is not unusual for even experienced Wills and Estates lawyer to ignore the effect of the Succession Law Reform Act section […]
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A number of years ago we touched on the complicated area of what your executor also known as an estate trustee will be paid for fulfilling their role in administering an estate. In the 2022 decision by the Honourable Mr. Justice F. Bruce Fitzpatrick of the Ontario Superior Court of Justice in Winkworth v. Murray, […]
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