Margaret E. Rintoul

The moving party brought a motion to set aside an ex parte order that required him to apply for a Certificate of Appointment as Estate Trustee for his late father's estate.

The responding party, a foreign judgment creditor, had obtained the ex parte order to facilitate the enforcement of a $44 million US judgment against the estate.

The court found that while the responding party had made adequate disclosure on the ex parte motion, it lacked standing to seek an order for assistance under the Rules of Civil Procedure because it did not yet have a crystallized, domesticated judgment in Ontario.

The ex parte order was therefore set aside.

The appellants, nieces of the deceased and remainder beneficiaries of his estate, appealed a decision declaring the Constantine Gicas Family Trust validly created.

They argued the trust lacked the three certainties and was not properly constituted.

The Court of Appeal upheld the application judge's finding that the trust was validly declared and constituted, and that specific shares were properly transferred to it.

However, the Court granted leave to appeal the costs award, finding that because the litigation was reasonably necessary to administer the estate due to the testator's conduct, costs should be paid out of the estate rather than by the appellants personally.