Deference

Total 3 Posts

THE “SLAYER RULE” – WHAT’S THE BURDEN?

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Kira Domratchev, Associate Gowling WLG (Canada) LLP The litigators amongst us are no doubt familiar with the fact that matters of public policy affect the decisions of our Courts. Public policy does not tolerate a wrongdoer profiting from their crime. The “Slayer Rule” or the “Criminal Forfeiture Rule” is where the person criminally responsible for the testator’s death is disentitled from taking any benefit out of their victim’s estate.[1] This….

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Capacity Law, Deference

To Forgive, or Not to Forgive, What Was the Intention?

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In Middleton Estate v. Middleton, 2020 ONCA 552 (CanLII), the Court of Appeal for Ontario considered the appeal from a trial judge’s decision concluding that the first of two promissory notes reflected the deceased’s intention that a loan made to her daughter was repayable on the deceased’s death. Facts: Eva Middleton died on June 5, 2015. Following Eva’s death, her estate trustee received two promissory notes: the first dated July….

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Credibility, Deference, Estate Litigation

Credibility is in the Eyes of the Judge

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I previously blogged about the presumption of resulting trust, which applies to gratuitous transfers between a parent and an adult child (equity presumes a bargain, and not a gift).   Rebutting the presumption of resulting trust (i.e. proving that the parent intended to make a gift to the adult child) often comes down to a matter of credibility – can the witness be believed? The British Columbia Court of Appeal has recently reminded….

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Credibility, Deference, Estate Litigation, Family Conflict, Resulting Trust
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