In July, 2014, Amanda Winters
posted on our blog about joint tenancies. She noted some
of the difficulties that can arise in using joint tenancies as an
estate planning tool. At our offices, we have noticed that
issues with joint tenancies are increasingly arising in estate
files, often leading to contentious litigation.
On September 16, 2014, the British Columbia Court of Appeal
decided a new case about a father transferring his property into
joint tenancy with his son. The case, Lorintt v.
Boda, is reported here.
In Lorintt, dad owned a piece of real estate. In
2000, dad transferred the property into joint tenancy with himself
and his only child (son). After dad died, the Executor of
dad's estate sought a declaration that son held the property in
trust for dad's estate. The trial judge dismissed the
claim, holding that dad intended to gift the property to son, and
that the presumption of resulting trust was rebutted. The
Court of Appeal dismissed the
