Proper Estate Expenses
November 4th | 2016
Re Vince Insurance Trust 2016 BCSC 1992 reviewed the law as to what constitutes proper estate expenses such that the executor would be entitled to be reimbursed for same. It is a question of fact in each case. The application for the interim distribution was… Read more
Interim Distribution Ordered
November 3rd | 2016
An interim distribution of $250,000 of his maximum estate entitlement of $460,000 was ordered to a 76 year old former spouse of the deceased who needed funds in Davis v Burns Estate 2016 BCSC 1982. The application was made under section 155 of the Wills,… Read more
Tracing Converted Assets
November 1st | 2016
Converted assets can be traced and reclaimed under certain circumstances if they can be identified. For example a bank account of cash can be converted into a stock portfolio which in turn is used to buy a house that is subsequently sold and put into… Read more
Removed Executor Gets No Fees
October 31st | 2016
Watson v Strong 2016 BCSC 1897 dealt with a passing of accounts claim for executor’s fees by a removed executor that was rejected by the court. The court instead awarded %4.5 fees on an interim basis to the executor who replaced the removed executor, with… Read more
Examinations for Discovery Ordered
October 28th | 2016
Estate of Patricia Connor deceased, 2016 BCSC 1934 dealt with the court ordering examinations for discovery and production of various documents in an action between half siblings of the deceased and a purported spouse of the deceased as inter alia the parties knew little to nothing… Read more
Legal Fees Agreements
October 27th | 2016
The test as to whether a legal fees agreement was “fair and reasonable” was recently reviewed in Hammerberg Lawyers LLP v Ikeda 2016 BCSC 621. The agreement in question was a contingency fee agreement. The lawyers worked on a difficult case for a long time… Read more
Leave to Appeal
October 21st | 2016
The legal test for leave to appeal was restated in Ho Estate v. Ho 2016 BCCA 253 , upheld at 2016 BCCA 378, where the decision of one appeal judge was upheld by a panel when he refused leave to appeal on the basis that… Read more
Mandatory Injunctions: Harm Must Probably Occur
October 5th | 2016
McLean v. Law Society of British Columbia 2016 BCCA 368 reviewed the law on injunctions and held that the court should only grant a mandatory injunctions when the harm complained of would probably occur. [17] Both declarations and injunctions, speaking as they do… Read more
S 151 WESA – Court Allows Applicant to Sue as Executor
September 26th | 2016
Werner v. McLean 2016 BCSC 1510 granted relief under S 151 WESA that the applicant be authorized to bring court action in the name of and sue on behalf of the personal representative of the estate as executor. The court approval was in order to litigate… Read more
Pleadings
September 17th | 2016
The Public Guardian and Tristee for BC v Johnston 2016 BCSC 1388 discusses the requirements of proper pleadings and when the Court may intervene to strike out, stay the proceedings, or amend the pleadings of a party. An application was brought under Rule 9-5 (1)… Read more
Adoption Purposes
September 13th | 2016
Adoption is for all purposes. I advised a legal enquiry today that he could not claim against the estate of his natural father (“birth parent”) since he had been adopted by another party and that for estate claims, his adoption was for “all purposes”. Section 3 WESA re Adoption… Read more
Adding a Party to an Action
September 1st | 2016
Stewart v. Stewart 2016 BCSC 1576 dealt with an application to adding a party to an action under Rule 6-2(7)(b) and (c) of the Supreme Court Civil Rules, B.C. Reg. 168/2009. The applicants were beneficiaries under two trusts settled by the deceased. The total value of… Read more
Dysfunctional Families: Scapegoat Child Sues Parents and Wins
August 31st | 2016
Scapegoat Child Sues Parents and Wins. I came across a case from 1994 where a 20 year old plaintiff who was abused, neglected and generally “scape- goated “throughout his childhood successfully sued his parents for their infliction of years of physical and mental abuse upon… Read more
What is a Discretionary Trust?
August 26th | 2016
The BC Court of Appeal in Putzki v Saunders 2016 BCCA 344 examined the nature of a family property trust and discussed what is a discretionary trust. A discretionary trust is commonly used in estate planning often when dealing with infants, disabled people on a government… Read more
Rebutting the Presumption of Resulting Trust
August 22nd | 2016
Rebutting the Presumption of Resulting Trust discussed in Mac v Mak 2016 BCSC 1140. [122] If the presumption of resulting trust arises, it may be rebutted by evidence of the transferor’s intention at the time of transfer to grant beneficial ownership to the recipient of… Read more