Listen to this week’s episode:
Featured in this episode of the Hull & Hull Debrief:
- Mark Debono examines whether a surviving joint account holder must disclose the account to an estate trustee, explaining why no free-standing duty generally arises in Ontario, why Pecore v Pecore 2007 SCC 17 shifts the onus once a gratuitous transfer is challenged, and how Spisak v Spisak 2023 ONSC 4726 shows non-disclosure becoming actionable where the survivor is also the estate trustee. READ NOW
- Osama Saleemi considers whether a hotchpot clause can require a beneficiary to repay a lifetime advance, reviewing Staples et al. v. Jean et al. 2024 ONSC 4590 and the Court’s holding that the calculation is a notional accounting exercise rather than one that turns an earlier gift into a debt owing to the estate. READ NOW
- In another post, Osama Saleemi reviews Laberge Gareau v. Laberge Gareau 2026 ONSC 4669, where land registered “in trust” for two minor daughters in 1996 was found to have remained beneficially the mother’s, while the older daughter, unsuccessful on proprietary estoppel, still recovered $170,881.16 for fifteen years of farm work. READ NOW
- Ian Hull explores whether the rule in Saunders v Vautier (1841), 41 ER 482 can be used to compel an interim distribution mid-administration, analyzing Pitt v Beattie 2025 ONSC 5654 and why the Court deferred to a trustee who had made an unconditional partial distribution while the residue remained genuinely uncertain. READ NOW
Hull & Hull Debrief is a weekly roundtable discussing the law and updates published by Hull & Hull LLP. Published each Friday, a link to this discussion will be found in the e-mail provided to our subscribers, for a quick and easy update on issues concerning trusts, estates and capacity issues. If you have any questions or comments regarding the Hull & Hull Debrief please contact Doug Higgins, Hull & Hull LLP: dhiggins@hullandhull.com