The applicant son sought to have the deceased's pre-death transfer of the family home to her husband and children clawed back into her estate as a 'gift mortis causa' under s. 72(1)(a) of the Succession Law Reform Act, to satisfy his dependent support claim.
The deceased had transferred the property as joint tenants shortly after being diagnosed with terminal cancer.
The court dismissed the application, finding that the transfer was absolute rather than conditional on her death, and noted that the doctrine of donatio mortis causa generally does not apply to real property.
