Dr. Martyn Judson

The appellant challenged the validity of two wills executed by her deceased husband on the grounds that he lacked testamentary capacity due to chronic alcoholism.

The trial judge dismissed the claim, finding that the testator possessed testamentary capacity and knew and approved of the contents of his wills.

On appeal, the appellant argued that the trial judge erred in excluding expert evidence and in finding that the testator had capacity.

The Court of Appeal upheld the trial judge's decision, finding no palpable or overriding error.

The court held that the trial judge properly exercised her discretion as gatekeeper in excluding the expert evidence, which had become increasingly tentative and speculative.

The court also found that the trial judge properly applied the framework for assessing will validity, including the displaced presumption triggered by suspicious circumstances relating to the testator's mental capacity.

The applicant child protection agency brought an application regarding three children, while the parents concurrently sought a divorce, custody, and property division.

Following a 154-day trial, the court dismissed the protection application, finding that the mother had made false allegations of domestic violence against the father and had a significant, unacknowledged alcohol problem.

The court awarded sole custody of the youngest child to the father, with restricted access for the mother, and ordered the mother to pay child support for all three children.

The court also determined that funds in the father's offshore account were held in a resulting trust and excluded from his net family property.

The Children's Aid Society applied for a status review seeking Crown wardship for two children who had been in continuous care for over two years.

The mother, who had a lengthy history of substance abuse, sought the return of the children under a supervision order, demonstrating significant and sustained recovery efforts.

The court found that the mother had achieved a sustained recovery with a strong relapse prevention plan, and that the risk of relapse was sufficiently minimal.

The court dismissed the Society's application for Crown wardship and ordered the children returned to the mother's care subject to a 12-month supervision order with strict conditions, including ongoing substance abuse treatment and testing.

The applicant, whose driver's license was suspended due to alcohol dependence, alleged that the Ministry of Transportation's practice of automatically suspending licenses based on physician reports and requiring a 12-month abstinence period for reinstatement discriminated against him on the basis of disability.

The Tribunal found that the suspension was based on an individualized assessment of driving risk rather than the disability itself.

Furthermore, the 12-month abstinence policy was grounded in medical consensus regarding addiction recovery and road safety.

The Tribunal concluded that the policies did not perpetuate prejudice or stereotyping and dismissed the application.