Transferring property interests

Question 1

Gifts inter vivos - deed of gift

Answer 1

Printed word “seal” = requirement deed be sealed – Bank of Nova Scotia v Hooper 470
Donor executes deed conveying remainder of property to the donee – leaves it in office of donee’s solicitor – donor had made several gifts to donee over years – is this a valid, irrevocable gift? – Schilithuis v Arnold 471

Question 2

Gifts inter vivos of personal property - delivery, intention, acceptance

Answer 2

Husband tells wife “it’s all yours” re: the furniture in their home – husband later bankrupt, wife sells some of the furniture – did this line from husband = gift? Delivery, change of possession to make the gift “perfect”? – Re Cole 472

Question 3

Delivery in context of common possession of donor, donee

Answer 3

Similar to above – man brings fiancée to new house, shows her the furniture, says “it’s all yours” – valid gift? – Langer v McTavish Brothers 476
Son claims dad gifted him 5 paintings for birthday – dad leaves paintings to someone else in will – did dad intend to gift them to son? – Mackedie Estate v Mackedie 476

Question 4

Delivery by cheque

Answer 4

Old woman wants to reward neighbour for their help past 15 years – gives a cheque for 100K, instructions to take it to bank – woman dies before bank allows neighbour to deposit cheque/freezing account – was cheque a perfect gift? – Teixeira v Markgraf 478

Question 5

Intent

Answer 5

OG manuscript of author’s best-known book – manuscript was lost, author tells defendant if they ever find it they can keep it – intent from author to gift manuscript to defendant if they ever found it? – does character of author lend credence to this intent? – Thomas v Thomas Times Book Co. 479

Question 6

Intention vs motive

Answer 6

Alleged gift occurred via “estate freeze” – father transfers 500 shares of his business to his son – was this a gift? Does motive of father (not altruistic) matter? – McNamee v McNamee 485

Question 7

Acceptance by the donee

Answer 7

Plaintiff wanted to gift the defendant, transfer stock into joint account in their names – keeps the gift a secret – plaintiff later marries someone else, discloses gift to D, asks D to transfer stock back over to her – can plaintiff compel the transfer? – Standing v Bowring 486

Question 8

Gifts inter vivos - declaration of trust

Answer 8

Ownership of boat – no relation between Watts – good friends – did deceased Watt make other Watt co-owner of the boat? – evidence? – Watt v Watt Estate 487

Question 9

Gifts and trusts

Answer 9

Boundary between gift by delivery vs. declaration of trust – gift of racehorse for one quarter of its interest – horse is now jointly owned – plaintiff borrows money from Cochrane to pay off debt – horse cannot be sold – Cochrane arranges for horses to be sold when plaintiff goes into arrears – co-owner of horse objects – Cochrane knew about co-owner, was Cochrane then a trustee? – Cochrane v Moore 489

Question 10

Joint property, presumption of advancement, parent-child relationship

Answer 10

Father & daughter have joint account, but it’s all only father’s money – right of survivorship – could daughter claim money upon dad’s death, or did money belong to dad’s estate? – Pecore v Pecore 491

Question 11

Capacity - in relation to diminished cognition

Answer 11

Mother with Alzheimer’s – her will leaves all her property to son, daughter equally – daughter argues mom not of right mind to make that will, or her deed of transfer to son before death – Winarski v Sproul 493

Question 12

Capacity and undue influence

Answer 12

Man gave gifts to his brother – man was depressed, dominated by brother – was mentally weak, vulnerable to influence – Csada v Csada 494

Question 13

Intentions, future enjoyment: distinguishing inter vivos & testamentary gifts

Answer 13

Promises secretary a portion of profits from their theatre production to be performed in future – dies before production occurs – Speelman v Pascal 496

Question 14

Donatio Mortis Cause

Answer 14

Z is old, friends with C – tells C about hidden money – Z says “I will not die tonight” – gives key to house for C to return next morning, to bring witness – did Z grant donatio to C? – Re Zachariuc: Chevrier v Public Trustee 497

Question 15

Intention & donatio mortis cause

Answer 15

Father deathbed reconciliation with daughter, expresses desire to change his will to include this daughter, says so in front of other children – impossible to change will; tells son to take $ out of safety deposit box and gift to daughter – son refuses – money belongs to estate, was son designated a trustee by father? – Mennonite Trust v Good 500

Question 16

Conveying legal estate: requirements of Statue of Frauds
- Electronic conveyancing

Answer 16

Did parties agree to conveyance over e-mail? – Bedell v Kidder 504

Question 17

Agreements of purchase & sale: equitable interests

Answer 17

Agree to purchase, sale, closing date, all issues of title – deposit from buyer – vendor dies before closing date, has will to many heirs – buyer wants specific performance of contract for equitable interest – Lsyaght v Edwards 505

Vendor goes back on deal for sale of home – housing market had risen – buyer at loss because price of home increased by the time of trial – is specific performance available to realty? – Semelhago v Paramadevan 508

Question 18

Specific performance & land in commercial context

Answer 18

Vendor agrees to sell commercial land near Wonderland hotel – no other comparable location – unique property – can plaintiff get specific performance to use property because no other substitute for it? – John E Dodge Holdings v 805062 Ontario 509/510

Question 19

Specific performance & land in residential context

Answer 19

Deal to sell family home – defendants change mind, don’t want to sell family home – can plaintiffs prove uniqueness to get specific performance? – Marvost v Stokes 511

Question 20

Fusion of law, equity

Answer 20

7-year lease agreement for a Providence Mill – agreement for lease showed parties were going to execute leasehold conveyance in the future – parties never did this, but tenant went into possession and paid quarterly rent (yearly tenant at law) – landlord then demands rent in advance – tenant says no obligation to pay in advance, because they only possess under an oral lease and nothing more – Walsh v Lonsdale 514

Question 21

Equity, part performance

Answer 21

Defendant agrees to sell land to plaintiff with down payment payable over 2 years – plaintiff moved in, repaired building and surrounding land – defendant, plaintiff differ on facts – plaintiff wants declaration of interest in land – the actions of both parties need to be examined – Taylor v Rawana 517

Oral agreement, handshake deal, paperwork forwarded, deposit cheque, but Cloverlawn never executes contract – both parties involved throughout construction – evidence of mutual acceptance – Cloverlawn changes mind, goes to 3rd party – Starlite sues for part performance – are Starlite’s actions enough evidence? – Starlite Variety Stores v Cloverlawn Investments 517

Question 22

Reconsidering the Steadman Test

Answer 22

Brothers – defendant brother buys land – verbal deal with plaintiff brother allowing plaintiff to buy half the land to build home – plaintiff pays defendant, defendant provides receipt saying “for payment on land” but does not provide bill of sale, saying plaintiff not entitled until home is built – plaintiff abandons home project – 20 years later, defendant wants to sell all the land – plaintiff brings application declaring entitlement to one half interest – Hollett v Hollett 523

Question 23

Equitable Principles: Recent developments in part performance

Answer 23

Right of first refusal – did conversations between parties create agreement or merely an agreement to agree? – evidence of sufficient acts of part performance to agreement outside s.4 of Statute of Frauds? – Erie Sand & Gravel v Tri-B Acres 525

Father verbal agreement with sons to transfer each one undivided half interest to their ranch property if they work on it for 25 years without salary – sons do this – relationship between father and one of the sons goes bad, father transfers entire interest to other son he’s still on good terms worth – part performance? – Jans v Jans Estates 536

Question 24

Priorities & registration: defining enforceability of competing interests in land

Answer 24

Old woman transfers title to home to male boarder so he can look after it on her behalf – oral agreement that boarder would hold home as trustee – boarder then transfers legal title to a buyer – woman seeks action to enforce her equitable interest under the oral trust agreement against this buyer – Hodgson v Marks 546