Michael A. Menear

The Estate Trustee sought a Benjamin Order to distribute the residue of an estate, assuming a named beneficiary, William Graham, had predeceased the testator.

Despite extensive efforts to locate William, he remained missing.

The Office of the Public Guardian and Trustee suggested paying William's share into court for further inquiry.

The court, applying principles from Neville v. Benjamin and subsequent Canadian cases, found the inquiries sufficient and granted the Benjamin Order, allowing the Estate Trustee to distribute William's share to the remaining beneficiaries.

On an application to pass estate accounts for the period when Marian Barltrop acted as guardian of property for Ethel Baker, the court considered extensive objections from Robert Baker concerning alleged deficiencies, overpayments, and reimbursements.

The court found the records were complete, accepted that identified duplicate and overpayments were bookkeeping errors rather than fiduciary breaches, and reduced compensation for those specific amounts.

The court held that challenged reimbursements, including care-related payments, legal and travel expenses, and other administration costs, were reasonably incurred for Ethel Baker’s benefit in the circumstances.

The accounts were passed, with a limited adjustment to compensation and a timetable set for costs submissions.