Justice Fred Myers, a Judge that has been featured in many of our other blog articles, rendered an incredibly important decision in the case of Fisher v. Danilunas 2025 ONSC 4359. This has captured the attention of Powers of Attorney Lawyers and Estate Litigation Lawyers. It held that a Order for guardianship made in England could be recognized here in Ontario, without forcing the applicants to go through the expensive effort of starting afresh. As a reminder, under The Substitute Decisions Act, when there are no valid Powers of Attorney for a living incompetent individual, the court may appoint someone as the guardian of property or the person or both for such an individual. In this decision, the court held that it indeed did have the authority to recognize a guardianship Order made in England. It is an important common sense decision made by an important Judge. This is a complicated and almost always very expensive exercise caused by not having a valid power of attorney with enough alternates should the first named attorney (not the lawyer) is unable to act. We warn our clients that the cost of a guardianship application usually starts at $15,000 which is often a financial road block. This decision can lessened that cost which is good news for our clients and Will and Estate lawyers. Our firm, Dale Streiman Law LLP are experienced lawyers in Brampton for Wills.
FOREIGN GUARDIANSHIP ORDERS
