I am a lawyer that has practiced in Brampton Ontario for 40 plus years. While the judicial system is a fundamental pillar of our democracy, that is no reason for a businesslike approach not be applied to it. The Government for shortsighted economies has starved the support staff of the courts of funding, which in […]
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Forcing Your Spouse To Have An Expert Determine Their Income
The court does have the authority to order a party to obtainan expert’s report to determine their income for support purposes. Recently, Justice Tremblay in the case of Sargalis foundin limited circumstances the court does indeed have the authority to order a party to obtain an expert’s report determining the potential payors income for the […]
Read MoreSettlements Far More Flexible Than Court Orders
On a practical basis, there is frequently a give and take in negotiations between spouses in which less of a property settlement is paid or received in return for an equivalent reduction or increase in a property settlement. However, in the event that the parties cannot settle, it is not within the courts’ jurisdiction to […]
Read MoreWhat is Probate – Part 2
To explain what probate is, we could do no better than paraphrase a statement by the British Columbia Court of Appeal. Probate is strictly speaking, the proof of a deceased’s will. In granting probate, initially court authorities and later, the civil court certifies that a document, put forward was indeed the deceased’s last will. A […]
Read MoreThe Many Basic Principles Of Custody
The following is an effort to provide a non-exhaustivelist in the most basic and summary of fashions of the laws that apply to custody and access in Ontario. The primary principle, the primary directive if you wish, is incorporated in section 24 of the Children’s Law Reform Act, the best interest of the child. Joint […]
Read MoreRest Easy – Multiple Wills Are Just Fine
Faithful readers of this blog will be aware of the earlier decision of Justice Dunphy of the Ontario Superior Court of Justice, who held as a result of a “basket clause” found in a standard precedent for Primary and Secondary Wills that the Secondary Will was invalid. All one needs to know is that as […]
Read MoreEstate Complications with Estate Trustees
Sometimes, third parties who are not related to the deceased may be appointed by the court as an estate trustee. It has been our experience in highly contested estates when competing parties will not agree on permitting the other acting as estate trustee, the court has the ability to appoint a third party. On consent, […]
Read MoreBenjamin Orders
What is an estate to do when a beneficiary cannot be found. While relatively rare, this does occur and it has been the author’s experience that in the absence of specific instructions in the will, this can lead to significant costs. There are specialized beneficiary hunters and as one can imagine they are not cheap. […]
Read MoreWhat to do when the bad son will not Move out after mom dies
We now look at Justice Spiescomments in the 2017 decision relating to the Filippelli estate. In this case, one child lived with mom for two years prior to her death. There was a very loose and rarely observed understanding that the son living with the mother would pay some type of rent. The son rarely […]
Read MoreBeneficiaries Gone Wild
Justice Spies, whose decisions have surfaced in this blog repeatedly,grappled with a group of siblings who suffered delusions as they fought over a $30,000.00 painting. I make no comment about the reasonableness of destroying a sibling relationship for mere money. In the Newlands decision, the court had earlier found that one brother’s position with respect […]
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