Legal Blog

Estate

Mayer v. Rubin 2017 Ont SCJ

When beneficiaries or aggrieved non-beneficiaries of an estate are battling and its trustees are also involved as beneficiaries, it is usual for another trustee, possibly in institutional trustee, to be appointed as an estate trustee pending litigation, whether under sections 5 & 28 of the Estates Act or under Rule 75.06(3)(f) and the court’s inherent jurisdiction to supervise the management of estates and control its own processes. The purpose of doing so is to level the playing field such that neither side is able to use its control over the estate to benefit itself or prejudice the other side. In this case, the trustees were starting to play fast and loose so that it was an easy decision for the court to appoint an estate trustee pending litigation.

Written by Jonathan Speigel Jonathan Speigel, the founding partner of Speigel Nichols Fox LLP, leads the litigation and construction practices.