Commercial and Estate Litigation Blog

Who will have custody of your children?

Is it up to you who will have custody of your children after your death? Not necessarily. In a lecture about Halachic Wills, Rabbi Moshe Taub spoke about a young Catholic woman who converted to Judaism. She did not have a will, so no one was appointed as guardian of her child. While it was natural that the maternal grandparents applied for custody, the prospect of this child being raised as a Catholic was the antithesis of what the mother wanted. What ensued was a battle to keep that Jewish child within the fold. How might this have been avoided?

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Who Will Have Custody of Your Children?

Is it up to you who will have custody of your children after your death? Not necessarily. In a lecture about Halachic Wills Rabbi Moshe Taub spoke about a young Catholic woman who converted to Judaism. She did not have a will so no one was appointed as guardian of her child. While it was natural that the maternal grandparents applied for custody, the prospect of this child being raised as a Catholic was the antithesis of what the mother wanted. What ensued was a battle to keep that Jewish child within the fold. How might his have been avoided?

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Court Ordered Withdrawal of Notice of Objection

Clients are sometimes understandably frustrated when the cost of defending a bogus claim is greater than settling. I want to share a story about one case where an aggressively creative motion addressed this concern.In this unreported case, the Applicant filed a Notice of Objection and commenced proceedings seeking support under Part V of the Succession Law Reform Act, R.S.O. 1990, c. S.26. The Deceased was not biologically related to the Applicant and was not receiving any financial or emotional support prior to the testator’s demise.

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Limitation Period Cheat Sheet

This cheat sheet is intended as a quick reference guide for estate litigators dealing with limitation periods. For a comprehensive review of this topic I refer the reader to articles written by senior members of the bar I have found very useful which I believe are worthwhile to review.

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Primer for Accountants on Amended EAT

Amendments to the Estate Administration Tax Act raises the question whether an accountant’s advice leading to a “false statement” by the client constitutes “assists in making” and puts the accountant at risk. To that end it is prudent for accountants to be doubly vigilant in documenting the advice provided whereby the accountant explains the importance of proper disclosure.

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Does a Heter Iska increase risk of litigation?

So I pose the question – is there a litigation risk to a lender who signs a Heter Iska? When a religious Jew lends another Jew money they often enter into an agreement called a Heter Iska. Faced with the biblical prohibition against charging interest on loans and the reality that lenders are more likely to lend people money when interest can be charged, the rabbis created a halachic mechanism to still allow a lender to profit from the loan and not charge interest. This halachic document is called the Heter Iska. The Heter Iska characterizes the lender as an investor who provides capital for a business venture.

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Dealing with a Testator Whose English is Suspect

It seems self evident and almost trite to say that a will must reflect the intention of the testator. Accordingly, those parties who come to court and submit that the will in question is authentic and valid must prove, among other things that the Testator knew and approved of the content of the will. Mistakes in how instructions are taken and the execution of the will may result in disappointed beneficiaries and liability to the solicitors who took the instructions, drafted the Will and saw to its execution.

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