Ontario Estates Bench-Bar Liaison Committee Meeting Minutes - June 6, 2022

Ontario Estates Bench-Bar Liaison Committee

June 6, 2022 4:30 p.m. Via Zoom

Meeting called by:	Justice Dietrich	Type of meeting:	Regularly scheduled quarterly meeting (third scheduled meeting of committee)
Facilitator:	Justice Dietrich, Chair	Note taker:	Sydney McIvor, Judicial Law Clerk

Attendees:

Mdm. Justice Dietrich (Chair), Mdm. Justice Wilson, Mdm. Justice Sheard, Mdm. Justice Woodley, Mdm. Justice Fowler Byrne, Laura Craig (counsel, Office of the Chief Justice), Michelle Chen (Manager, Civil Trial Office), Sydney McIvor (Judicial Law Clerk), Monica Simion (MAG – Manager, Court Operations), Natasha Marjadsingh (MAG – Court Operations), Linda Omazic (counsel, Operational Support Branch, Court Services Division) Susan Easterbrook, Lou-Anne F. Farrell, Andrea M. Hill, Ian Hull, Margaret E. Rintoul (Toronto Estate Planning Council representative), Marshall Swadron, Kimberly A. Whaley, Marni Whitaker, Kathleen McDormand (OBA representative), Caroline Abela (The Advocates’ Society representative), and Alison Lester (Federation of Ontario Law Associations representative)

Regrets

Bosco Mascarenhas (MAG – Supervisor of Court Operations), Kathleen MacDougall – CAMH representative, Kavina Nagrani – OBA representative, and Angelique Moss (OBA representative)

1.

Welcome

Presenter:

Justice Dietrich

Justice Dietrich welcomed Committee members

2.

Approve Minutes

Presenter:

Justice Dietrich

Discussion:

January 31 meeting minutes approved (moved by, K. Whaley, Seconded by M. Whitaker)

3.

Review of Action items

Presenter:

Justice Dietrich/ Laura Craig

Discussion

1. Use of Toronto estate model orders in other regions (Laura Craig)
   • L. Craig to enquire with RSJs whether they would like estate procedures and the Toronto model orders as part of their regional practice directions
   • Ongoing
2. Estate model orders on the SCJ website: FOLA to distribute to law associations across the province as an additional resource.
   • FOLA representative confirmed that the link to the model orders was sent to executive director and will be circulated
3. Deferred – Model affidavit for requests to dispense with filing of administration bond: this Committee will wait to see if the amendments Rules of Civil Procedure regarding filing administration bonds result in a decrease in the number of applications being rejected by court staff due to errors or omissions.  
   • Members agreed that the amended rules in force on July 1, 2022, set out the required information for an affidavit in support of a request to dispense with the filing of an administration bond.  

• Members of the estates bar will be reminded of the amendments coming into force on July 1, 2022 (L. Omazic).

4. Google LLC Model Order for releasing passwords of deceased:
   • Justice Woodley confirmed that Her Honour received information from Google LLC but it does not fully answer the questions of the Committee. Her Honour to follow up to seek more information.
5. Court Staff Procedures – Registrars may need more direction respecting the fact that they do not need to reject an application if the memorandum is not a binding memorandum. L. Omazic reminded court staff of the correct procedure and sent the revised staff Estates Procedures Manual to committee members. Members may wish to put their name on a mailing list to receive the Estates Procedures Manual each time it is updated.

Action items	Person responsible	Deadline
Send out reminder email to membership re: new regulations	L. Omazic/ L. Craig	July 1, 2022
Follow up re: Google LLC Model Order	Justice Woodley	N/A
Send updated Estates Procedures Manual members	L. Omazic	N/A

4.

Practice Directions

Presenter:

Justice Dietrich/ Laura Craig

Discussion:

Practice direction on passing of accounts – Required change will be posted shortly. (L. Craig/M. Whitaker)

• Court staff confirmed the sections on passings of accounts have been updated with clearer wording and more detail. The change will be translated and posted on the SCJ website here:
• https://www.ontariocourts.ca/scj/practice/practice‑directions/toronto/estates/#B_Passing_of_Accounts_Applications.
• Part F of the Practice Direction was amended to clarify that parties may schedule a case conference, as opposed to a 9:30 scheduling appointment, to deal with matters for which they require assistance beyond scheduling.  Justice Dietrich explained that, in order to ensure that matters are being dealt with efficiently, the court is trying to reserve the 9:30 a.m. appointments for scheduling matters. For other matters, case conferences should be booked for 30 minutes instead of the 10-minute scheduling appointments.
• Members expressed concerns that there will be delays in booking 30-minute case conferences. Court staff advised that the wait time for case conferences will not be significantly longer than the wait time for 9:30 appointments.
• A note that these changes only apply to the Toronto Estates Practice Direction.

5.

Other Business

Presenter:

Open

Discussion:

Members did not raise other business.

6.

Standing Agenda Items

Presenter:

Justice Dietrich

Discussion:               

1. Changes to the Succession Law Reform Act – tracking decisions
   • S. McIvor confirmed that there are no cases dealing with the change as of yet.
   • K. Whaley noted that she addressed the change briefly for “Six-Minute Lawyer” drawing on similar provisions in other provinces. Alberta has similar wording that was adopted in 2012 and started to see cases in 2018. Alberta caselaw is probably strongly indicative of what will happen in Ontario as the wording is similar. To date, there have been approximately 10 cases in Alberta and most cases require that the will have a signature. Alberta is not seeing a creative and broad interpretation such as is developing in BC. The Manitoba legislation is also in line with Ontario and Alberta. Manitoba is still seeing a conservative application.
2. Updates regarding technology companies’ requirements for releasing a deceased’s password
   • Justice Woodley confirmed that Her Honour spoke to a connection at Google LLC but has not specifically asked about releasing passwords.
   • Membership expressed concern that there have been cases where Orders from Ontario Courts have not been respected by U.S. companies.
3. Toronto Estates Office (scheduling, court bookings)
   • Court staff confirmed they are adjusting to the new forms and new manual.
   • The turnaround on ex parte files is about one to two weeks.
   • Toronto is experiencing some backlogs with processing Applications for Certificate of Appointment of Estate Trustee (six to eight weeks) and this is mostly due to the volume of applications and staff availability.
   • With the uncoupling of Commercial and Estates Lists in Toronto, members asked where Consent and Capacity Board Appeals would be heard. Justice Dietrich confirmed Her Honour would follow up with Justice Wilson on this question.

Action items	Person responsible	Deadline
Inquire with Google LLC regarding Orders for deceased’s passwords	Justice Woodley	N/A
Inquire with Justice Wilson where consent and capacity appeals are to be held	Justice Dietrich	N/A

• Next meeting: to be held in late September/ early October, unless there is need for a special meeting over the summer

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