Commercial and Estate Litigation Blog
Taking the Money

Taking all the money out of the joint account?

What happens when two people have a joint bank account and one of them decides to withdraw all the money? That’s one of the questions that the British Columbia Court of Appeal (“BCCA”) addressed in Zeligs v. Janes]. The case is a good case to read for those who want to better understand the law of joint tenancy, tenancy in common and joint bank accounts. For the purposes of this blog our focus is on just one question – when one joint tenant empties out the account, what are the rights of the other joint tenant? Let’s review the case and then discuss the BCCA’s conclusions on this point.

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Supreme Court of Canada

Right to Refuse to Refer Patients to Physicians For Assisted Suicide?

Do Canadian doctors have a right to refuse to refer patients to physicians who will assist them to commit suicide?

The unanimous decision in Carter v. Canada (Attorney General), released on February 6, 2015, drastically changed the landscape of Canadian law with respect to physician-assisted death (“PAD”).

The Supreme Court of Canada (“SCC”) set aside those provisions in the Criminal Code that criminalized PAD. The Carter decision specifically does not impose any obligation on doctors to participate in any way in PAD and leaves the balancing of patients’ and doctors’ rights to first be addressed by the legislature and regulating bodies. In its newly introduced legislation, Bill C-14, Prime Minister Trudeau’s Liberal government chose not to address the issue. The College of Physicians and Surgeons (the “College”) wants to impose an obligation on physicians to make referrals to patients seeking PAD.

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Entitlement to Support Despite Prenuptial Agreement

When wealthy people marry, their lawyers often advise them to ensure that their fiancé signs a prenuptial agreement. The goal is to protect the wealthy person’s family in case, the marriage breaks up and/or the wealthy spouse dies. So, if the couple each hire good lawyers and the prenuptial contract clearly spells out their agreement, is that ‘pre-nup’ still open to challenge? Maybe. Let’s look at the law.

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Rule 49 Offers: No such thing as a near miss

The expense of litigation is a top concern for all clients. So, if you are involved in a lawsuit and want to try to ensure that you have the best shot at recovering your expenses when successful, what should you do? One key option is to make a Rule 49 offer to settle.The timing of an offer to settle is important and can have a significant impact down the road. Now you might ask why anyone would offer to settle a fight when it’s either just getting started or getting really close to the trial that you’ve spent so long preparing for. The answer is a simple one: protecting your ability to maximize the return of your legal costs.

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power of attorney

Still Don’t Have a Power of Attorney for Healthcare?

No one likes talking about getting sick or dying. But in today’s world, choosing a Power of Attorney (POA) is a difficult conversation we need to have with our loved ones. A Power of Attorney grants a person of your choosing the power to make important financial and medical decisions on your behalf, should you be unable to.However, studies show that 56% of Canadians have not written their will or powers of attorney. As a result, there are a growing number of families that have had to deal with difficult, stressful situations when a family member becomes ill or incapacitated.

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Attempted Suicide Is Not A Quasi Advanced Directive!

According to a recent news report, certain doctors in Quebec declined to revive patients who attempted suicide. Their rationale? The attempt to kill oneself constituted an advanced directive. I specifically am not commenting on any possible criminal liability, if any, because criminal law is not my expertise. But, as a lawyer who is certified as a specialist in estates and trusts law, I wholly disagree with the characterization of a suicide attempt as constituting an advanced directive. As a person who believes in the sanctity of life I take exception to the conduct of those doctors in Quebec.

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Discrimination Because Of Sexual Orientation

Is it legal to disinherit someone because of his or her sexual orientation?

There are those who would argue that in Ontario, testamentary freedom is paramount. That means that, when making his will, the father had every right to be prejudiced, mean, whimsical or even cruel. After all, the argument goes, it’s the father’s money and he can do whatever he wants with it. Why should the law interfere with a person’s will if the law would permit the father to do what he wanted to do with his money during his lifetime? The father could have donated all of his money to charity before dying, or spent it all at the casino. There are many lawyers and academics who take this view. There are others who disagree.

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Real Estate Liability

Professional Liability For Real Estate Agents

Lawsuits against real estate agents may be based on a number of different claims. Such claims may include allegations of misrepresentation, negligence, lack of disclosure, secret profits, conflict of interest, etc. As such, it’s important for both the real estate agent and the client to understand what the law expects of real estate agents.

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Supreme Court of Canada

Jewish physicians’ freedom of conscience and religion and the Carter Case

How does the decision in the Supreme Court of Canada (SCC) in Carter v. Canada (Attorney General) (“Carter”) impact on the religious Jewish doctor? Will this landmark decision bring into conflict these doctors’ freedom of conscience and religion with their professional obligations? The Carter case sets aside federal criminal laws as they relate to physician assisted suicide. It stands for the proposition that individuals who are suffering unbearably have a constitutional right to a physician-assisted suicide. Canada now joins only eight other countries in the world that have decriminalized physician-assisted suicide in recent years. This is a fundamental change in the law.

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