A Cautionary Tale For Farm Succession Planning

Law360 Canada (September 3, 2025, 1:32 PM EDT) -- The Court of Appeal for Ontario's recent decision in Metske v. Metske, 2025 ONCA 418provides an important lesson to farming families and their professional advisers: good intentions and family loyalty, while laudable, are no substitute for clear, enforceable agreements. The decision narrows the scope of proprietary estoppel in the agricultural context and underlines the commercial reality that a succession plan must be both documented and financially achievable.

Factual background

Martin and Roseanne Metske owned a mixed farming enterprise centred on a 152-acre "home farm" with an associated dairy quota. Their son, Tim, had worked on a different parcel from 2003 to 2011. During those years, Martin occasionally told Tim that "the farm will be yours one day," but no terms were ever reduced to writing. After a family falling-out in2011, Tim left the farm and took employment elsewhere. In early 2012, Martin