Probate Actions and \u27Suspicious Circumstances\u27: A Third Standard of Proof for Allegations Involving Moral Guilt

When a will is challenged as being executed under suspicious circumstances, Canadian courts have historically sought clear, compelling, and cogent evidence to demonstrate the will’s validity. The associated standard of proof has been described as one residing beyond a balance of probabilities, and is conceptualized as the ‘third standard of proof’ in addition to the civil and criminal standards. This third standard of proof is also particularly appealing when allocating the risk of error in an estates context in which testators are deceased and no longer available to clarify their intentions or perspectives. However, after the 2008 Supreme Court of Canada decision, FH v McDougall (“McDougall”), it was resolutely pronounced that only two standards of proof operate in Canada, with the third standard of proof dismissed for the practical problems of its application. As conceded below, there are compelling and valid reasons to disregard a third standard of proof for typical will challenges investigating circumstances such as the execution of the will or the testamentary capacity of the testator. This paper argues that for challenges that involve allegations of moral guilt, and in cases of fraud or undue influence over the testator, then something more then a balance of probabilities is desirable, and the more demanding third standard of proof should be utilized

Probate Actions and \u27Suspicious Circumstances\u27: A Third Standard of Proof for Allegations Involving Moral Guilt

When a will is challenged as being executed under suspicious circumstances, Canadian courts have historically sought clear, compelling, and cogent evidence to demonstrate the will’s validity. The associated standard of proof has been described as one residing beyond a balance of probabilities, and is conceptualized as the ‘third standard of proof’ in addition to the civil and criminal standards. This third standard of proof is also particularly appealing when allocating the risk of error in an estates context in which testators are deceased and no longer available to clarify their intentions or perspectives. However, after the 2008 Supreme Court of Canada decision, FH v McDougall (“McDougall”), it was resolutely pronounced that only two standards of proof operate in Canada, with the third standard of proof dismissed for the practical problems of its application. As conceded below, there are compelling and valid reasons to disregard a third standard of proof for typical will challenges investigating circumstances such as the execution of the will or the testamentary capacity of the testator. This paper argues that for challenges that involve allegations of moral guilt, and in cases of fraud or undue influence over the testator, then something more then a balance of probabilities is desirable, and the more demanding third standard of proof should be utilized

Beyond the Five Stages of Grief: Best Practices for Estate Mediation and Advising the Bereaved Client

In 1789, Benjamin Franklin famously wrote that nothing in this world is certain “except death and taxes.” Yet, as the baby boomer generation increasingly comprises our senior population, a third near-certainty has emerged: family disputes regarding the estate of a deceased family member. This article reviews the Canadian legislative response to these estate disputes thus far through the introduction of Rule 75.1 of the Ontario Rules of Civil Procedure. It is argued that the introduction of mandatory mediation provides the Estates Bar with an opportunity to review emerging demands on lawyers as well as mediation and bereavement literature in order to discern best practices for estate mediation. This article then compares current professional approaches to bereaved parties with modern bereavement literature. Finally, this article sets out a preliminary framework of best practices for estate mediation, arguing that the “new estates lawyer” must proactively incorporate knowledge of the psychological dynamics of grief into preparation for and participation in estate mediation

A History of Preferential Share in Ontario: Intestacy Legislation and Conceptions of the Deserving or Undeserving Widow

Ontario’s current method for trying to ensure the fair distribution of an intestate’s estate, or the estate of an individual without a valid Last Will and Testament, is outlined in the Succession Law Reform Act. Specifically, section 45(1) outlines the foundational concept of a “preferential share,” which entitles the surviving spouse to a prescribed financial interest in the estate which is prioritized above all other heirs.The concept of a preferential share stands in sharp contrast with historical English common law methods of devolving intestate estates in which legal entitlements were heavily influenced by an individual’s gender and marital status. In light of the historical influence of gender and marital status on intestacy legislation, this paper investigates the origins and development of the preferential share provision. This paper uses an analytical framework emphasizing the historically gendered experiences of widows and widowers, and how their gender informed the nature of their legal interests under intestacy. In addition, this essay frames its analysis within historical commentary that demonstrates a sharp conceptual dichotomy between the “good wife and deserving widow” or the “bad wife and undeserving widow,” and how such categorization impacted perceptions of what a fair and reasonable devolution entailed

Novel Developments in Bayesian Modelling Applied to Estimating Abundance in Animal Communities

In order to understand evolutionary-ecological processes and make decisions concerning wildlife management (i.e., conservation and monitoring, according to Caughley (1994)), the ability to estimate abundances of wild animal species can prove imperative (Verdade et al., 2014). However, methods of data collection that involve direct interaction with wild animals can be invasive and pose risks to both wildlife and humans (Verdade et al., 2013). In this thesis, we propose methodologies that may be used to estimate animal abundances using different types of data, with an emphasis on data whose collection is relatively low-effort, cost-effective and poses the least risk of danger to the animal and observer. The ability to use these data to estimate abundance may allow for the establishment of large-scale wildlife monitoring programs. First we present a multivariate extension to the N-mixture model proposed by Royle (2004). This extension allows for the estimation of abundances for multiple species simultaneously, while also estimating the correlation between species abundances. This model is further extended to allow for data collected over long time periods through the addition of a first-order autoregressive term on the abundance. This model is then extended further to allow for the use of zero-inflated data by considering a hurdle-Poisson distribution for the latent abundances. We then provide an overview of various N-mixture models, aimed at introducing practitioners unfamiliar with statistics to this methodology. We demonstrate a Bayesian implementation of some of these models to estimate foraging bee abundance, with R code provided to allow model implementation by any interested practitioners. Finally we examine a scenario in which data is not composed of observations of individuals, but rather observations of animal vestiges (i.e., traces that an animal leaves behind as it moves through the environment). Here we present a novel modelling framework, the triple Poisson model, that allows for the estimation of animal abundance using vestige data, even when only very scarce data is available

A knowledge management-based intranet: asset or EBM liability?

This paper summarises the presentation given at the British Computer Society Primary Health Care Specialist Group annual conference 2004. It outlines the four years of experience gained in implementing a knowledge management-based intranet across a local health community. Consideration is given to definitions of knowledge management and evidence-based medicine. The paper outlines the potential impacts and actual results over the four-year period, with reference to the wider issues involved

Modelling the relationship of clinical governance and informatics: matching competencies to aid development

The authors outline an a priori model relating clinical and informatics competencies. They discuss the implications for both informatics training and governance, suggesting areas for research, and recommend a joined-up approach to assessment and delivery

Bulk Properties of Anharmonic Chains in Strong Thermal Gradients: Non-Equilibrium ϕ4\phi^4 Theory

We study nonequilibrium properties of a one-dimensional lattice Hamiltonian with quartic interactions in strong thermal gradients. Nonequilibrium temperature profiles, T(x), are found to develop significant curvature and boundary jumps. From the determination of the bulk thermal conductivity, we develop a quantitative description of T(x) including the jumps.Comment: 14pp, 5 fig

Transport Phenomena at a Critical Point -- Thermal Conduction in the Creutz Cellular Automaton --

Nature of energy transport around a critical point is studied in the Creutz cellular automaton. Fourier heat law is confirmed to hold in this model by a direct measurement of heat flow under a temperature gradient. The thermal conductivity is carefully investigated near the phase transition by the use of the Kubo formula. As the result, the thermal conductivity is found to take a finite value at the critical point contrary to some previous works. Equal-time correlation of the heat flow is also analyzed by a mean-field type approximation to investigate the temperature dependence of thermal conductivity. A variant of the Creutz cellular automaton called the Q2R is also investigated and similar results are obtained.Comment: 27 pages including 14figure