Canada Case Law

Chan v. Chan

Court

Supreme Court of British Columbia

Because the Property was validly gifted to and held by the JPT in 2007, the Revocable Deed gave the trustee the power to permit petitioner to purchase the Property on the Material Date, petitioner paid the required consideration and transfer was registered, the transfer was valid and petitioner is the sole legal and beneficial owner; respondent's challenges based on probate, resulting trust or Graham v. Smith are meritless and unfounded, and special costs are warranted for his conduct.

Source excerpt

• Declaration of title
• Estate freeze
• Inter vivos trust
• Trustee appointment
• Special costs
• Property transfer tax

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Beach v. Beach

Court

Supreme Court of British Columbia

On the evidence the court found no fraudulent misrepresentation because the property's farm tax status remained unchanged and no falsehood was proven; no undue influence because negotiations occurred through counsel, Dorothy had legal representation, was not financially dependent on the defendants, obtained a sought outcome and did not repudiate the agreement in her lifetime; and no unconscionability because there was no demonstrated inequality of bargaining power and each party negotiated for valuable consideration. Accordingly the plaintiffs' challenge to set aside the Settlement Agreement…

Source excerpt

• Constructive trust
• Fraudulent misrepresentation
• Undue influence
• Unconscionability
• Settlement agreement enforceability
• Costs (uplift/special costs)

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Lawrence Estate v. Lawrence

Court

Supreme Court of Nova Scotia

On the balance of probabilities the court accepted independent and contemporaneous evidence (notably the solicitor Patricia Caldwell and multiple independent family witnesses) that Thelma intended to gift Elton the Homestead by joint tenancy without any precondition, so Elton rebutted the Pecore presumption and is the legal and beneficial owner; further, even if the funeral agreement could be read to include the Homestead, the parties shared a fundamental common mistake (none knew of the deed) which would void any agreement in respect of that asset.

Source excerpt

• Resulting trust
• Right of survivorship
• Specific performance
• Common mistake
• Joint tenancy
• Corroboration of testimony

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Trefry-Sweeney v. Matthews

Court

Supreme Court of Nova Scotia

The application to vary the trust was granted conditionally: the Court exercised its discretion under s.3(3) of the Variation of Trusts Act and concluded that requiring the applicant to obtain and maintain a term life insurance policy in the amount of $342,329 naming the Trust as beneficiary until age 35 sufficiently protects contingent beneficiaries and removes the prohibitive detriment, thereby permitting the amendment to clause 10(b)(iv).

Source excerpt

• Trust variation
• Settlor intention
• Contingent beneficiaries
• Life insurance as security
• Court-imposed conditions

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Pennington Estate v. Haffner

Court

Supreme Court of British Columbia

The court dismissed consolidation but ordered two estate and trust actions to be tried at the same time, with shared disclosure and discovery use.

• Consolidation/joinder of actions
• Rule 22-5(8)
• S.151 wesa leave
• Fiduciary duty
• Power of attorney
• Joint tenancy

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Vines v. Wilcock

Court

British Columbia Court of Appeal

Appeal dismissed in a trust-interpretation dispute. The Court held the chambers judge did not palpably err in reading the alter ego trust deed to make Simon trustee of both new trusts.

• Trust deed interpretation
• Alter ego trust
• Trustee appointment and replacement
• Standard of review (sattva)
• Per stirpes and inter vivos provisions
• Trust-deed-interpretation

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Hartin Estate (Re)

Court

Supreme Court of British Columbia

The court dismissed an estate beneficiary’s request for a further interim distribution, but ordered limited disclosure of corporate documents subject to confidentiality protections.

• Interim distribution of residue
• Executor discretion and fiduciary duty
• Disclosure to beneficiaries
• Confidentiality agreements
• Voluntary disclosure to cra
• Accountings

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O’Hara v. Schaefer

Court

Supreme Court of British Columbia

The court struck the plaintiff’s trust-based claim, finding no reasonable prospect of success and no pleading authority to sue for the estate.

• Express trust
• Resulting trust
• Constructive trust
• Striking pleadings
• Summary judgment
• Costs

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Mussio Goodman v. Laferriere

Court

Supreme Court of British Columbia

The court allowed a solicitor’s account in part, rejected constructive dismissal of the retainer, reduced unsupported time entries, and certified costs.

• Passing of accounts
• Retainer termination
• Reasonableness of fees
• Costs assessment
• Billing practices
• Constructive dismissal

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Zemtsova v. Shevalev Estate

Court

British Columbia Court of Appeal

The British Columbia Court of Appeal dismissed an appeal about whether Rion Financial Corp’s shares were family assets used to hold Dubai sale purchase agreements.

• Family assets
• Characterization of corporate shares
• Arbitration award enforcement
• Tenancy in common
• Tracing through corporate structures
• Natural justice

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