Articles

About Articles The below articles are published by the Elder Law Section of the Ontario Bar Association. Members are encouraged to submit articles. About Articles

Editors: Michelle Wen Xiao Kang and Sydney Osmar

Today
Today

Working with Older Clients: Tips for New Lawyers

  • June 20, 2019
  • Alexandra Manthorpe

Coming out of law school, it’s not uncommon to have clients who are a generation or two older than oneself. Alexandra Manthorpe offers tips for working with older clients that she has learned in her few years of being a lawyer.

Elder Law, Student Forum

Section 3 Counsel and the Rebuttable Presumption of Capacity to Instruct

  • March 13, 2019
  • Daniel Paperny

The concept and role of section 3 counsel is inherently tricky, because counsel is, on one hand, tasked to represent individuals whose capacity is in issue, yet the lawyer is still bound by the Rules of Professional Conduct and Rules of Civil Procedure and duty-bound not to take or act on instruction if the client is found to lack the capacity to instruct.

Elder Law, Student Forum

Online Romance Scams Affecting Elder Persons

  • February 13, 2019
  • Brittany Sud, Faskens

In 2018, the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre cited romance scams as the top reported scams based on total dollar loss. Elderly persons are particularly susceptible to these types of scams. Unfortunately, the late Robert Hogg fell victim to a romance scam, which was not discovered until after his death.

Elder Law, Student Forum

Diminished Ability to Communicate? Or, Diminished Decisional Capacity?

  • October 25, 2018
  • Kimberly A. Whaley, Whaley Estate Litigation Partners

Mills v Radons, 2018 SKQB 237 (CanLII), a recent case from Saskatchewan, looks at whether a husband had the requisite decisional capacity to instruct his counsel in divorce proceedings and whether his intention was to seek a divorce and spousal support.

Elder Law, Student Forum

Elder Law and the Importance of Communication

  • July 20, 2018
  • Angela Yenssen

The recent OBA Elder Law Section CPD program, "Congregate Care: Legal Issues Facing Residents, Families & Substitute Decision-Makers,” conveyed how critical clear communication is to explaining and understanding the rights of hospital patients and residents of long-term care and retirement homes.

Elder Law, Student Forum

Sydney Lederman Sentenced to 90 Days Jail for Fraud

  • April 18, 2018
  • Ontario Securities Commission

Sydney Lederman plead guilty to securities fraud and was sentenced to jail on April 13, 2018, for selling a senior citizen securities in a defunct corporation for the price of $90,000 that he fraudulently claimed were worth $3 million but were, in fact, worthless.

Elder Law, Student Forum

‘Predator’ Spouse, take note of Hunt v. Worrod

  • April 08, 2018
  • Dagmara Wozniak, Siskinds LLP

With respect to predatory marriages, too often in the past, the predatory spouse has prevailed because the common law offers limited recourse; that is, until Hunt v. Worrod. Released in December 2017, Hunt v. Worrod may just have changed the legal landscape of predatory marriage in Ontario.

Elder Law, Family Law, Trusts and Estates Law