Articles 2020

In this first of a series of interviews with our colleagues in the estates bar, we are getting to know a bit more about Doreen So, an estate litigator and partner at Hull & Hull LLP.

The Ontario Estates Bench-Bar Liaison Committee held their regularly scheduled quarterly meeting in October 2022. At this meeting, committee members considered various issues, including the next steps towards drafting a consolidated provincial practice direction for estates, possible amendments to the estates forms, and processing times for over-the-counter motions and applications for a certificate of appointment of estate trustee.

The recent decision in P.C.L., by her Litigation Guardians, E.C. et. al. v The Estate of B.L. et. al. considered in what circumstances a person will be found to have demonstrated a “settled intention” to treat an individual as a child, particularly in the context of a SLRA dependant’s support application. Notably, in this case, the court distinguished between an intention and a settled intention, and found on these particular facts that there was no settled intention.

During the Ontario Estates Bench-Bar Liaison Committee's June meeting, the committee discussed several matters of importance to the Estates Bar. Topics addressed included estate model orders, updates to the practice direction, and other ongoing discussion points.

In November, members of the Trusts and Estates Law Section gathered for the monthly Brown Bag Lunch. As always, attendees shared recent developments, and raised interesting practice questions. Topics discussed included a change to the practice direction for the Toronto Estates List, undertakings pursuant to s. 4(3) of the Estate Administration Tax Act, and how to deal with estate trustee compensation where there is tension with the beneficiaries.

At the October Brown Bag Lunch meeting, OBA Trusts and Estates Law Section members discussed a variety of interesting topics, including the Law Society of Ontario’s recent decision to terminate the Certified Specialist Program, holograph Wills, partial intestacies, and situations where most or all assets pass outside of the estate leaving insufficient assets to satisfy debts.

In a recent development, it is now possible to request to receive updated versions of the Estates Procedure Manual automatically. We encourage all estate practitioners to put themselves on this list, in order to ensure that they have the most up-to-date version of the Estates Procedure Manual.

Estate law and family law share a number of common features. The focus of many files in both areas of law is resolving the dispute and allowing clients to move on with their lives (and, where possible, preserving a relationship with the other parties to the dispute). With so much overlap, it may be helpful for estate and family lawyers, respectively, to share perspectives and experiences, and hear of alternative strategies for resolving family disputes.

When a testator dies without providing adequate support for any of his or her dependants, a dependant may bring an application for support under the Succession Law Reform Act. There is a limitation period for bringing such an application. As discussed by Kim Gale and Palak Mahajan, to avoid certain negative consequences, estate trustees would be well-advised not to distribute the estate assets until that time is up.

Members of the OBA Trusts and Estates Section met in September for the first Brown Bag Lunch of the 2022-2023 term after taking a break for July and August. Attendees eagerly jumped back into the discussion, raising questions about joint accounts, the Calmusky decision, and incorrect information received from the Ministry of Finance.