Dr. Marotta

At a case management hearing in a guardianship dispute, the court ordered the waiver of solicitor-client privilege for three lawyers who prepared Powers of Attorney for the incapable person, Paul Tanti, to allow them to testify at the upcoming hearing.

The court also directed that former Section 3 counsel for Paul Tanti transition to the role of amicus curiae, given her intimate knowledge of the complex and highly acrimonious proceeding, and set out the order of presentation and permitted evidence for the upcoming hearing.

This appeal concerned the capacity of Paul Tanti to enter into a marriage with Sharon Joseph.

Raymond Tanti, Paul's son, appealed the trial judge's decision that the marriage was valid, arguing his father lacked the requisite capacity.

The Court of Appeal affirmed the trial judge's findings, holding that the correct legal test for marriage capacity was applied, which requires understanding the nature of the marriage contract and its duties.

The court found no palpable and overriding error in the trial judge's assessment of evidence, including the discounting of non-contemporaneous expert opinions and the reliance on direct lay witness testimony.

The appeal was dismissed, upholding the validity of the marriage.

The applicant, a disabled party by her litigation guardian, sought court approval for an Accident Benefit (AB) settlement and associated legal fees.

The court found the AB settlement of $744,116.26 to be appropriate and reasonable given the circumstances of the severe traumatic brain injury and multiple fractures sustained by the applicant.

However, the court adjourned the approval of the proposed legal fees for the AB claim, which were based on a 25% contingency fee.

The judge required the applicant's solicitor to provide actual time dockets to determine the fairness and reasonableness of the contingency fee agreement, noting that a previous tort settlement fee for the same client had been reduced due to insufficient docketed time.

The court emphasized the need for careful scrutiny of contingency fee agreements for parties under disability.

The moving party sought to validate her marriage to an elderly man with worsening dementia, which was challenged by the responding party, the man's son.

The son had previously obtained a guardianship order in the wife's absence and alleged the marriage was predatory.

The court found that the son failed to adduce sufficient evidence that his father lacked the capacity to marry on the date of the wedding.

The court placed little weight on retrospective expert assessments and relied on direct evidence of the couple's long-term relationship and the father's understanding of the marriage.

The marriage was declared valid, and the son was ordered to pay $50,000 in full indemnity costs due to his egregious conduct.

The testator left a specific bequest of a Florida property to her sister.

Prior to her death, while she was incapable of managing property, her attorneys under a continuing power of attorney sold the property, which was held by a corporation she wholly owned.

The residuary beneficiaries argued the gift adeemed.

The Court of Appeal upheld the application judge's finding that the anti-ademption provision in s. 36(1) of the Substitute Decisions Act, 1992 applied, preserving the gift for the sister's estate.

The Court also affirmed the finding of incapacity and awarded costs against the unsuccessful appellants, departing from the traditional rule that estate litigation costs are paid from the estate.