Summary Dismissal-Rule 9-6 (5)
October 12th | 2018
Copytrack Pte Ltd v Wall 2018 BCSC 1709 reviews the law relating to summary dismissal of a claim pursuant to Rule-9-6(5) of the Supreme Court Rules of Court. Rule 9-6 (5) provides: 5) on hearing an application under sub rule to or four, the court… Read more
The Equitable Doctrine of Rectification
October 11th | 2018
Rectification is an equitable remedy that can be granted were a mistake, either mutual or unilateral, has been made a legal document that does not accord with the true intention of the parties. Rectification is not a do over and like many equitable remedies, is… Read more
Court Refuses to Revoke Power of Attorney
October 10th | 2018
An Ontario case Crane v Metzger 2018 ONSC 5382 refused an application to revoke a power of attorney of the applicant’s mother who had vascular dementia and had been determined to be incompetent. The court followed the Ontario decision of Teffer v Schaefers (2008) 93… Read more
Tracing Assets
October 9th | 2018
The classic statement of law relating to the process of tracing assets is found in the decision of the Ontario High Court of Justice in McTaggart v Boffo (1976) 10 OR (2d) 733 at 749-750: “The general principle for the tracing of trust funds is… Read more
Unconscionable Transactions
October 8th | 2018
The Supreme Court of Canada in the decision Norberg v Wynrib (1992) 2 SCR 226 reviewed the law relating to unconscionable transactions. The Norberg decision involved a family doctor who prescribed drugs to an addict in return for sexual services. An unconscionable transaction arises in… Read more
The Doctrine of Clean Hands
October 7th | 2018
A well-established principle of the law of equity is the doctrine of clean hands which states “he who comes into equity must come with clean hands.” The clean hands doctrine serves to deny equitable relief for the misdeeds or misconduct as an immediate and necessary… Read more
Wills Drafting 101
October 6th | 2018
The cardinal rule of wills drafting is that there is no such thing as a “simple will.” There is a tendency amongst some wills practitioners to underestimate the difficulty of drafting a proper will. Many practitioners still seemingly believe in the myth of the “simple… Read more
Enforcing Settlements and Settler’s Remorse
October 4th | 2018
Sojka v Sojka 2018 BCSC 562 reviews the law with respect to enforcement of a settlement reached at a mediation where both parties were represented by counsel, and one party attempted to renege on the agreement by utilizing what the court regarded as “settler’s remorse.”… Read more
Registrar’s Report Confirmation Hearings
October 3rd | 2018
Narwal v Narwal 2018 BCSC 1561 discusses the law relating to approval of the registrar’s inquiry and recommendation by a Supreme Court judge in what is known as a confirmation hearing. It is a very common legal procedure to have matters involving such issues as… Read more
The Expert Witness
October 2nd | 2018
Grewal v Khakh 2018 BCSC 2055 discuss the cast for what constitutes an expert witness and followed the decision of the BC Court of Appeal in Regina v Kinnie (1989) 40 BCLR (2d) 369 as follows: “from this it is clear that so long as… Read more
Court Finds Gift Over Resulting Trust
October 2nd | 2018
Gully v Gully 2018 BCSC 1590 involved in a case where a mother transferred a one half interest in her home in 2015 to her son as joint tenant on title, on the basis of estate planning advice that she received. Her intention was to… Read more
Publication Bans
September 3rd | 2018
Toronto Star Newspapers Ltd v Sherman Estate 2018 ONSC 4706 involved the sensational murder of two wealthy Torontonians where the courts weighed the deleterious effects of applying publication bans to protect files. The court concluded that any deleterious effect of a publication ban was substantially… Read more
S.151 WESA: Leave to Commence a Court Action on Behalf of the Executor
September 2nd | 2018
Re Gordon Estate 2018 BCSC 487 is a decision that granted leave under section 151 of WESA for the residual beneficiary, the University of British Columbia, to commence an action in the name and on behalf of the executor of the estate of the deceased…. Read more
Money Paid By Mistake (Money Had and Received)
September 1st | 2018
Newman v Beta Maritime Ltd 2018 BCSC 1442 discussed the situation where money “had and received” is a cause of action which is available where money was paid by mistake, acquired by way of fraud or paid under duress. The issue of the law relating… Read more
Rebutting the Presumption of Resulting Trust For Gratuitous Transfers
August 31st | 2018
Rebutting the presumption of a resulting trust for the gratuitous transfer of property was discussed in Wong v Huang 2012 BCSC 975 and Frischnecht v Nowak 2018 BCSC 1430. In both cases the court reviewed the relevant authorities and found that the transfers of property… Read more