Canadian Lawyer

October 2019

The most widely read magazine for Canadian lawyers

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www.lawtimesnews.com 23 In addition to the money transfers, the alleged egregious conduct included denying Rachel Belway access to her father in the last months of his life and not informing her of his stroke. But Desormeau found this conduct was not financially driven. Webb also signed an affidavit in April, 2018 stating the $380,000 she had transferred to herself after Belway's stroke was done as per his instructions. She admitted that was not true and Desormeau called that "problematic," and her conduct, generally, "improper" but credited Webb with only taking a fifth of the estate when she had access to the whole thing. Desormeau found that Webb's behaviour did not rise to the level of egregious or malicious, nor was it so unconscionable that she should be denied support from the estate. Section 63 of the SLRA gives the court "broad discretion" in imposing conditions or restrictions on dependent support, the deci- sion states. Desormeau considered giving Webb a life interest in the property but thought that, given their fraught relationship, she and Rachel Belway should have a "clean break." Tator credits Desormeau with designing the resolution to avoid the two parties having anything further to do with each other. "In dealing with my own dependent support claims, if we go to mediation, if we're trying to settle, the best thing you can do for your client, honestly, whether you're representing the estate or the claimant, is to give them both a clean break," says Tator. Desormeau found a "judicious spouse" would have left Webb the house and adequate assets to sustain her for the rest of her life: $1,425,562, including the money she had already received. "The real moral of the story is this gentleman who died really should have done a will and he would have saved an awful lot of heartache for his spouse and for his daughter," McGregor says. Thanks to your generosity, The Toronto Star Children's Charities can bring a breath of fresh air and Christmas gifts to 70,000 Toronto area youngsters each year. The Toronto Star Fresh Air Fund helps send 25,000 disabled and disadvantaged kids to summer camp. The Toronto Star Santa Claus Fund delivers gifts and food to 45,000 underprivileged children. To donate by cheque, clip this ad and mail to: The Toronto Star Fresh Air Fund OR The Toronto Star Santa Claus Fund One Yonge St., Toronto, ON M5E 1E6 Donate by calling (416) 869-4847 OR online by credit card to: thestar.com/freshairfund OR thestar.com/santaclausfund Bring a big smile to 70,000 little faces

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