Vancouver Lawyers Discuss Commencing Action on Behalf of an Estate

Vancouver lawyers examine statutory tools that enable litigants to commence actions to potentially protect the interests of beneficiaries

Vancouver, BC -- (ReleaseWire) -- 05/25/2018 -- As a team of lawyers in Vancouver, the Kushner Law Group has just published part one of a two-part series that examines how the Wills, Estates and Succession Act ("WESA") permits litigants to apply to the Court for leave (or permission) to commence an action on behalf of an Estate.

For more, go to: http://www.kushnerlaw.ca/commencing-actions-on-behalf-of-an-estate-part-1/.

New statutory rules laid out by WESA have proven to be tremendously useful in enabling litigants to commence actions to potentially protect the interests of beneficiaries.

In the recent decision of Terezakis v. Ekins, 2018 BCSC 24, the honourable Madame Justice Morellato was asked to consider an application by the son of the Deceased who wished to commence an action on behalf of the Estate of his deceased mother against his sister, who was named as executrix and trustee to the will of the Deceased.

The applicant argued that the Deceased had made a number of transfers to her daughter over the course of her lifetime and that those transfers should be considered to be held as resulting trusts on behalf of the Estate.

In considering the case, Madam Justice Morellato summarized an applicable section of s. 151 of WESA as follows:

[26] In addition, ss. 151(3)(b) provides that the court may grant leave, under this section, assuming the pre-conditions of reasonable efforts, notice and good faith have been satisfied, where "it appears to the court that it is necessary or expedient for the protection of the estate or the interest of a beneficiary for the proceeding to be brought…" [Emphasis added.]. That is, the protection of a beneficiary's interest, such as that of Mr. T. Terezakis, also informs the court's discretion in this context. I will address the criterion of "necessary or expedient" in greater detail below.

For present purposes, suffice it to say that, while I am mindful that Mr. J. Terezakis and Ms. K. Terezakis do not claim an interest in the Richmond Property, their positions on this issue are not determinative on the question of whether I ought to exercise my discretion by granting leave under s. 151 of the Act.

Part two of the blog will discuss Madam Justice Morellato's judgement. Anyone with questions on will variation or estate litigation in Vancouver BC is advised to contact the Kushner Law Group at 604-629-0432 or online to schedule a consultation.

About The Kushner Law Group
The Kushner Law Group was founded on the principle that a small law firm should be able to offer the same level of legal advice as a big firm at an affordable cost. A unique combination of legal experience and creativity allows the professionals at Kushner to come up with creative and practical solutions for a variety of legal problems.

For additional information, please visit http://kushnerlaw.ca/ or call 604-629-0432.

Kushner Law Group
Lars Kushner
Phone: 604-629-0432
Fax: 604-689-4451
Company website: http://kushnerlaw.ca/
1008 Beach Ave #105

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