wills and estates

S.A. v Metro Vancouver Housing Corp : “Henson Trusts” in the Context of Rent Subsidies

The Supreme Court of Canada (“SCC”) addressed the issue of “Henson trusts” for the first time ever this January in S.A. v Metro Vancouver Housing Corp, 2019 SCC 4 [Metro Vancouver]. A Henson trust (named after the decision in Ontario (Director of Income Maintenance, Minister of Community & Social Services) v. Henson,  1987 CarswellOnt 654, [1987] O.J. No. […]

Discord and the Sword: An Estate Dispute and Proprietary Estoppel in Cowper-Smith v Morgan

In Cowper-Smith v Morgan, 2017 SCC 61 [Cowper-Smith], the Supreme Court of Canada (“the Court”) brings back painful memories of first-year Contracts and attempts to clarify the complex equitable doctrine of propriety estoppel despite several differing interpretations. Proprietary Estoppel Estoppel is an equitable doctrine which arises when one party acts on the reliance of the promise […]