In Towne Meadow Development Corp. v. Israel Development Bank the Ontario Superior Court of Justice had to determine the appropriate location for litigating a dispute. A Canadian construction company hoped to build in Israel. The Israeli bank granted it credit. A shareholder of the company allegedly pledged company assets to secure the loan. The bank then called in its line of credit for repayment wanting access to the assets.
In this column I write mostly about estate or commercial disputes. But given my recent unsuccessful attempts to defang a financial predator, I am taking this opportunity to alert people to fraudsters seeking to take advantage of the unsuspecting. There are people who pretend to be lawyers and use the Internet to scam the naïve and inexperienced. Others pretend to be clients and use unsuspecting lawyers as pawns in fraudulent schemes. These financial predators promise money or business opportunity.
The court heard evidence that the late Kerry Kelly did not believe Shauna was his daughter. Kelly believed that Shauna's mother "... cheated on me with no sex protection." The judge believed Pamela Proulx, Kelly's sister, who said that Kelly never recognized Shauna to be his biological daughter. Aunt Pamela applied to court to obtain a DNA test of Shauna and compare it to a sample of Kelly's DNA to see whether Shauna was Kelly's biological daughter. Shauna opposed the application. Let us review some of the reasons why the DNA test was worth fighting about and the legal arguments used by each side.
Ontario has statutory provisions that detail who inherits an estate when the deceased did not have a valid Will. To access those provisions Please see Part II of the Succession Law Reform Act.
In Re Estate of Max Feinberg three Illinois courts reviewed what they called the Jewish Clause, which stated: "A descendant of mine other than a child of mine who marries outside the Jewish faith (unless the spouse of such descendant has converted or converts within one year of the marriage to the Jewish faith) and his or her descendents shall be deemed to be deceased for all purposes of this instrument as of the date of such marriage."
Harry, 85, wants to marry 75-year-old Esther, but he does not want to lose his widower's pension. They agree not to obtain a marriage license or register the marriage, but instead to have only a ritual ceremony in a rabbi's office. Harry dies and his will leaves his assets to his children. Does only a religious marriage ceremony give Esther any rights to Harry's estate?
Is it legal to disinherit someone for marrying outside the faith? As a general rule, Ontario Courts respect a person's desire to dispose of their assets as they see fit. However, with the Family Law Act , and the Succession Law Reform Act , the Legislature has intervened to protect the interests of spouses and dependants. The Courts have also avoided certain bequests because they offend Public Policy.
Mr. Allen, (not his real name) an Orthodox Jew, wanted to make sure his will would survive his son's scrutiny. The client was not worried about challenges to his capacity, or allegations of undue influence. Rather, his concern was Halachic.
As a general rule when people own assets or property on joint account or joint tenancy there is a right of survivorship. So for example, if Frank and Peter have a joint bank account and Frank dies, then Peter is entitled to all that money by right of survivorship. Two recent Supreme Court of Canada decisions have underscored the need to carefully document a person's intentions with respect to jointly held assets.
Law suits often start when siblings discover that one child was made a joint account holder by a parent. When the parent dies the child, as the remaining joint tenant, claims the money by right of survivorship.