Melanie Slater

The appellants appealed the dismissal of their application for specific performance of an agreement of purchase and sale for a modular mobile home park.

The core issue was whether the appellants delivered a notice of fulfilment of a condition before the deadline.

The application judge found they had not, rendering the agreement null and void.

The Court of Appeal dismissed the appeal, finding no reversible error in the application judge's factual findings, credibility assessment, or weighing of evidence.

The appellate court declined to re-weigh the evidence, affirming the lower court's decision.

The testatrix executed her will on the back deck of her insurance agency during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The applicant, the testatrix's daughter and named executrix, sought to prove the will.

The two attesting witnesses, former employees of the testatrix who subsequently worked for the respondent, claimed they did not see the testatrix sign the will.

The court found the attesting witnesses lacked credibility, noting one witness refused to sign an affidavit of execution due to a dispute over severance pay.

The court accepted the applicant's evidence that the will was properly executed in the presence of both witnesses and declared the document to be the valid last will and testament.

The appellants, minority shareholders in a family holding company controlled by their father, appealed a decision dismissing their claim for breach of fiduciary duty and ordering them to sell their shares as a remedy for oppression.

The Divisional Court allowed the appeal, finding the application judge erred in fact and law by failing to recognize the father's self-dealing and breach of fiduciary duty when he purchased shares through his own company and later sold them to the family holding company for a substantial profit.

The court also found the forced sale of the appellants' shares was manifestly unjust and failed to consider their reasonable expectations.

The court ordered the father and his company to disgorge the profits to the holding company, removed the father as a director of the appellants' holding company, and awarded costs to the appellants.