The recent decision of the Ontario Court of Appeal in Dagg
v. Cameron Estate, 2017 ONCA 366 contains important lessons
for family and estates lawyers, mediators and financial advisors.
The essential facts are as follows:
The court order required the husband (H) to pay spousal support
to his first wife (W1) and to maintain a policy of life insurance
to secure his support obligations. After the husband remarried, he
changed the beneficiaries of the policy to W1, his second wife
(W2), and his children from his second marriage. After H's
death, W1 and W2 each claimed entitlement to the insurance
proceeds. The issue before the court in Dagg was the
interpretation of provisions of the Succession Law Reform Act
(SLRA). W1 relied on the court order that required H to maintain
the policy as security for his support obligations. W2 brought an
application under Part V of the SLRA (the dependents' relief
provisions) under which the court has the power to order an estate
to pay
