Wills, Trusts & Estates
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April 09, 2025
New $1 coin marks the creation of the Supreme Court of Canada 150 years ago
The Supreme Court of Canada marked a milestone birthday on April 8, 2025, 150 years after it came into existence on April 8, 1875, when the Supreme and Exchequer Courts Act received royal assent. The composition, powers and importance of the world’s only bilingual and bijural apex court have evolved considerably since the court first sat in 1876, after the original six-judge bench was appointed.
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April 09, 2025
Suspicious circumstances need not be proven on balance of probabilities: Manitoba Appeal Court
The doctrine of suspicious circumstances is not a new concept. Dating back to the English ecclesiastical courts before English law was adopted in Canada, typically suspicious circumstances were used to challenge the validity of wills. In recent years, however, a growing body of case law in Canada explores how suspicious circumstances can be applied in other contexts, resulting in a series of new decisions from the Manitoba Court of Appeal addressing the doctrine’s application to capacity to appoint an attorney for property (see Drewniak v. Smith, 2024 MBCA 86 and Henderson Estate (Re), 2024 MBCA 95) and capacity to enter a contract (see McLeod Estate v. Cole, 2022 MBCA 73).
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April 08, 2025
Joint Forum of Financial Market Regulators discuss responsible use of AI
Canadian financial market regulators from across multiple sectors wrapped up their annual meeting April 8 in Calgary after examining the growing use of artificial intelligence (AI) systems by market participants, among other issues.
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April 07, 2025
B.C. court certifies class action over public guardian’s failure to secure benefits for children in care
The B.C. Supreme Court has certified a class action against the province's Public Guardian and Trustee (PGT), alleging that it was negligent and breached its fiduciary duty to children in care by failing to obtain no-cost federal and provincial education benefits for them.
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April 04, 2025
Ontario court injunction bars solicitation of claimants in $32.5 billion tobacco class action
In a rare move, the Chief Justice of the Ontario Superior Court has granted an injunction preventing lawyers, law firms or other entities from soliciting potential claimants in the mediated $32.5 billion class action settlement involving three tobacco companies, Canadian provinces and territories, and victims of tobacco use.
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April 04, 2025
New report finds businesses not succession ready as many owners retire
Canada is facing a wave of small business closures amid “economic uncertainty and tariff wars,” partly driven by the number of retiring baby boomer entrepreneurs, according to a new report by consulting firm MNP, which found that nearly two-thirds (64.1 per cent) of Canadian businesses have no succession plan.
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April 04, 2025
New Brunswick investing in start of courts’ digital upgrade
New Brunswick is spending $5 million to kick-start the digital transformation of its courts. In what is being called an investment in greater access to justice, New Brunswick’s government will spend more than $32 million over six years for the technological revamp of the province’s court system, which will include various digital upgrades to the courts, as detailed in an April 3 news release.
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April 03, 2025
Sexual assault and IPV survivors sue Ottawa, argue Jordan fallout violates their s. 7 Charter rights
Fourteen sexual assault and intimate partner violence survivors have sued Ottawa for $15 million in Charter damages and systemic remedies for the federal government’s alleged unjustified breach of their Charter s. 7 right to fundamental justice by not responding effectively to R. v. Jordan, 2016 SCC 27 and its fallout.
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April 01, 2025
What 2024 taught us about trusts and estates litigation in Canada
As litigation in estates and trusts law continues to evolve, 2024 marked a significant year for Canadian courts. Several appellate decisions pushed the boundaries of existing doctrines while reinforcing core principles that define estate planning, administration and disputes. The legal landscape increasingly demands sharper attention to detail from lawyers and trustees alike, particularly around limitation periods, testamentary capacity, fiduciary obligations and procedural fairness.
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March 28, 2025
Canadian legal groups and regulators slam Trump administration’s ‘attacks’ on U.S. judiciary and bar
Canadian bar groups and the country’s 14 legal regulators are condemning the new U.S. administration’s “attacks” on American legal institutions. The concerns of Canada’s legal community were sparked recently by various calls from U.S. President Donald Trump and his allies to impeach judges who have not ruled in favour of the Republican administration’s actions, as well as by presidential executive orders and negative statements targeting individual lawyers and law firms, the immigration bar and so-called “Big Law” in the United States.