Power of attorney owes no duty of care to grantor’s daughter, OCA rules
Martin Zatovkanuk | Soumya Roop Sanyal Husband holding wife’s power of attorney had no duty to tell her daughter of hospitalizations and death By Julius Melnitzer | September 23, 2026 A person acting under a power of attorney for personal care owes no duty of care to the incapable grantor’s adult child, the Court of […]
BARE BONES BRIEFS: Rapper Drake accused of promoting illegal gambling | AI replacing arbitrators | Trump: lawyers’ public service work “illegal” | Government convicted of ignoring itself | Cozen beefs up estates practice
By Julius Melnitzer | November 23, 2025 DRAKE SUED FOR “GLAMORIZING” GAMBLING Justin Killham, a Missouri resident, has initiated a class action against Drake and others for promoting Stake, an online casino. The claim alleges that the Curaçao-based platform violates gambling laws by using a “dual currency” system designed to evade gambling regulations, and that […]
BARE BONES BRIEFS: Cyberattack costs law firm $11 million | OCA: testamentary revocations ineffective against RRIF and RFSA beneficiaries | Companies ignoring law requiring disclosure of Indigenous payments | Dubai’s DEC’s first case | Dellelce gets third honourary doctorate
By Julius Melnitzer | September 18, 2023 CYBERATTACK HITS CONVEYANCING GIANT Simplify, the UK’s largest independent conveyancing and property services group, which embraces six of the largest conveyancing law firms in the UK and handles 250,000 transactions annually, suffered almost $12 million in losses from a cyberattack in 2021 that created a major IT systems […]
Estate freeze strategies come with many potential pitfalls
David Rotfleisch says estate freezes come with pitfalls if not properly executed. By Julius Melniter | December 11, 2022 The ubiquity of estate freezes, which have long been among the flavours of the day in personal tax planning, can mask their complexity. “Estate freezes are the most basic tax planning technique for entrepreneurs and even non-entrepreneurs, […]
Independent evidence required to support unjust enrichment claim based on change of beneficiary: OCA
Some independent evidence is needed to support Moore v. Sweet claims, says Nick Esterbauer By Julius Melnitzer | November 18, 2022 Parties alleging that a change of beneficiaries was unlawful must prove the existence of a clear agreement to maintain their beneficiary status without change, the Ontario Court of Appeal has ruled. In Fair v. BMO […]
Family businesses are built to be passed on. That just got easier and less costly
PHOTO BY GETTY IMAGES/ISTOCKPHOTO The potential savings on wealth transfer taxes with Bill C-208 could amount to as much as $400,000 “Keeping the business in the family” will get a whole lot easier — and a whole lot less costly — when Bill C-208, which received Royal Assent this week, comes into force on January […]
Nova Scotia Decision on Dependents’ Relief Redefines Testator’s ‘Liberty’
The Nova Scotia Supreme Court has ruled that portions of the province’s dependants’ relief legislation, which allow adult independent children to apply for variation of a will because it provides inadequate maintenance and support, are unconstitutional. “The decision expands the scope of the liberty interest protected in s. 7 of the Charter of Rights by recognizing that […]