Articles 2020

The 2022-2023 term has officially begun and Section Chair, Rachel Migicovsky and Vice-Chair, Moya Graham are pleased to extend a warm fall greeting to all members of the OBA Civil Litigation Section.

In a recent development, it is now possible to request to receive updated versions of the Estates Procedure Manual automatically. We encourage all estate practitioners to put themselves on this list, in order to ensure that they have the most up-to-date version of the Estates Procedure Manual.

Estate law and family law share a number of common features. The focus of many files in both areas of law is resolving the dispute and allowing clients to move on with their lives (and, where possible, preserving a relationship with the other parties to the dispute). With so much overlap, it may be helpful for estate and family lawyers, respectively, to share perspectives and experiences, and hear of alternative strategies for resolving family disputes.

When a testator dies without providing adequate support for any of his or her dependants, a dependant may bring an application for support under the Succession Law Reform Act. There is a limitation period for bringing such an application. As discussed by Kim Gale and Palak Mahajan, to avoid certain negative consequences, estate trustees would be well-advised not to distribute the estate assets until that time is up.