Arieh Bloom

In a will challenge and dependants' support proceeding, the moving parties sought production of financial records from Grand River Enterprises Six Nations Ltd. (GRE), a third-party corporation in which the deceased held a 12.5% interest, and leave to examine two non-parties regarding the deceased's will.

The court granted both motions, finding that the financial records were relevant to valuing the estate and assessing the testamentary sense of the will, and that the non-parties possessed relevant information not obtainable elsewhere.

The applicant sought leave to proceed with an uncontested trial in writing to assess damages against the respondent for breach of fiduciary duty.

The respondent had previously been held in contempt for failing to pass his accounts and had failed to pay a costs order before passing away.

The court granted the applicant leave to proceed under Rule 57.03(2) of the Rules of Civil Procedure, dispensing with the requirement for an order to continue under Rule 11, as the respondent's beneficiaries declined to administer his insolvent estate.

The applicant brought a motion to compel a witness, his brother, to answer questions and produce documents refused during a Rule 39.03 examination.

The examination was conducted to gather evidence for a pending contempt motion against the trustees of family trusts for failing to produce accounting documents.

The court ordered the witness to answer the questions, finding that the information sought regarding certain mortgages had a semblance of relevancy to the issues on the contempt motion.

The court-appointed Administrator of an estate brought a motion to appoint an investigator to review the accounts and assets of two intertwined family estates.

The estates had been mired in years of acrimonious litigation among the sibling beneficiaries, with allegations of breached fiduciary duties and misappropriated funds.

Finding that the accounts were complex, significant information was missing, and the parties were highly dysfunctional, the court granted the motion and appointed the investigator to provide a neutral analysis.

The applicants brought a motion to compel the respondent to answer questions refused on examination for discovery and to enforce a prior costs award.

The respondent paid the costs award two days before the hearing, rendering the enforcement aspect moot.

The court ordered the respondent to answer 15 of the refused questions and upheld 11 refusals, directing a follow-up examination by videoconference.

The court awarded the applicants full indemnity costs thrown away for the enforcement motion and partial indemnity costs for the divided success on the refusals motion, totaling $12,942.36.

In a long-standing and highly acrimonious family trust dispute, the court considered multiple motions, including motions to dismiss for delay and abuse of process, and motions for a further and better accounting.

The court found that the plaintiffs (two of the sons) had engaged in an abuse of process through a 'scorched-earth' litigation strategy, including failing to produce relevant documents they controlled, changing counsel repeatedly, refusing to mediate, and launching collateral attacks.

Consequently, the court dismissed their actions.

However, recognizing that the trusts still required an accounting for the benefit of the other beneficiaries (the grandchildren), the court ordered the remaining trustees to provide a further and better accounting, and ordered the redemption of the matriarch's shares in the underlying holding company.

The plaintiff, on behalf of his deceased father's estate, brought a motion to compel the passing of accounts regarding the spending of his father's deceased wife, who had acted as the father's Attorney for Property for nearly ten years.

The defendant, the wife's daughter and estate trustee, opposed the motion, arguing she could not account for her mother's spending and would be unfairly prejudiced.

The court dismissed the motion, finding that while there is no statutory limitation period for passing accounts, ordering one in these circumstances would result in a clear injustice, and the issues surrounding suspicious property transfers were better suited for the outstanding main action.

Following a series of motions and applications in a complex family estate and joint venture dispute, the court determined the appropriate costs awards.

The court awarded partial indemnity costs to Mattamy Homes for an abandoned summary judgment motion and a successfully defended summary judgment motion.

The litigation guardian was also awarded partial indemnity costs.

However, the joint attorneys for property were awarded substantial indemnity costs of $180,000 against the Bistricers, as the court found the Bistricers' conduct in the litigation to be reprehensible, duplicitous, and driven by ulterior motives.

The applicant's husband died intestate, leaving a complex international estate.

The applicant sought an extension of the six-month deadline under section 6 of the Family Law Act to elect between an equalization payment and her entitlement under the Succession Law Reform Act.

The court granted a one-year extension, finding that the applicant needed more time to assemble a reasonable knowledge base to make an informed choice, the delay was incurred in good faith, and there was minimal prejudice to the estate.

Following a motion where the moving party successfully sought to withdraw admissions involving approximately $14,000,000, the court determined the issue of costs.

The court found that the responding parties took a tactical and precarious position in opposing the motion, as the granting of leave was foreseeable absent any evidence of prejudice.

Costs were awarded to the moving party fixed at $15,000.

The moving party, in the midst of complex family trust litigation, sought leave to withdraw admissions made in a previous affidavit and to file three new affidavits.

The moving party argued the admissions regarding multi-million dollar shareholder loans were made inadvertently due to confusion and reliance on her former, now-deceased counsel.

The responding parties opposed, arguing the admissions were formal and the new evidence was an attempt to repair her case mid-hearing.

The court granted the motion, finding the admissions were likely inadvertent, raised a triable issue, and caused no non-compensable legal prejudice to the responding parties.

The court emphasized the need to decide the case on its true merits rather than a solicitor's or party's mistake.

The respondent was successful on a half-day motion brought by the applicants to remove her solicitors and add a defendant.

She sought costs on a substantial indemnity basis of $81,193.45, or alternatively on a partial indemnity basis of $61,637.67.

The court found that substantial indemnity costs were not warranted and that the requested amounts were disproportionate.

Costs were fixed and awarded to the respondent in the total amount of $42,520.33.

The applicant sought to invalidate a Continuing Power of Attorney for Property granted by his mother to his brother, alleging lack of capacity and undue influence.

The applicant also sought to replace his brother with a professional interim guardian.

The court found that the mother had the requisite capacity to grant the power of attorney and that there was no evidence of coercion or suspicious circumstances to establish undue influence.

The application to replace the attorney was dismissed, but the brother was ordered to pass his accounts annually to ensure transparency.