Rectifying Wills
May 16, 2024 By Brian Babcock Your will is supposed to express what you want done with your property after you die. After all that is why it is called a “will”- because it expresses your will. THE ISSUE But what happens if the formal will for some reason does not accurately express your intentions? […]
Road Access and Your Summer Getaway
May 14, 2024 By Nick Melchiorre With spring blossoming, cottage season is approaching. For a lawyer, that means that the status of access roads becomes a concern. If you are buying rural property, one of the issues might be road access. Properly created roads vary from formal roads dedicated to municipal ownership and control, to […]
Is That Will Valid?
May 9, 2024 By Brian Babcock In order to be valid, a will must be made while the person making it (the “testator”) has mental capacity to make a will. THE ISSUE A recent Ontario Court of Appeal decision nicely collects and summarizes examples of the indications that a court will look at in determining […]
Perfection Of Leases Under The PPSA
May 7, 2024 By Mark Mikulasik In Ontario, the Personal Property Security Act protects lenders through a priority of registration system. A key exception is the purchase money security interest, by which a supplier can maintain first claim in items supplied on credit, regardless of order of registration, or “perfection”. THE ISSUE For decades, there […]
Proof Is Far From Standard
May 2, 2024 By Brian Babcock You probably know the phrase “beyond a reasonable doubt”. This criminal standard of proof receives frequent attention in the media. But there is a difference between the criminal standard of proof, which is very strict, and the civil standard of “balance of probabilities”, which is less tough to meet. […]
Subjective Intention Doesn’t Matter
April 30, 2024 By Jonathon Clark That eye-catching headline is a bit misleading. In criminal litigation, subjective intention – whether the accused meant to commit the offence- might be important (though not always). In civil litigation involving contracts, which is one of our areas of practice, there is a key difference between “subjective “ intention […]
What Is A “Matter OF Public Interest”?
April 25, 2024 By Brian Babcock We have written before explaining anti-SLAPP motions in Ontario. THE ISSUE The test for a defendant to have a SLAPP action dismissed against requires them to prove that their statement under attack arises from a “matter of public interest”. The courts continue to refine our understanding of this requirement. […]
A Contract On A Napkin?
April 23, 2024 By Nick Melchiorre “An oral contract is worth the paper it is written on” is an old saying. Not quite accurate, but it does illustrate the difficulty convincing a judge that a binding deal was reached if it not out in writing. We have written before about the importance of getting it […]
COVID and Constructive Dismissal
April 18, 2024 By Brian Babcock Cases related to loss of employment due to COVID shutdowns continue to work their way through the system. Employers generally do not have a right to layoff employees but some employers saw it differently during the COVID shutdowns. THE ISSUE There may be a “COVID bump” increasing damages in […]
Beware The “Use” Clause In Your Lease
April 16, 2024 By Mark Mikulasik Commercial leases typically contain a clause which restricts the type of use that the tenant can have in the leased property. If the use designated is too narrow, this can come back to bite the tenant. The use clause in Metro 1 Development Corp. Ltd. v. Michael Garron Hospital […]