The owner did not take any step to change her estate plan after the gift was made: court
The British Columbia Supreme Court ruled that a property owner’s granddaughter holds sole legal and beneficial interest in a Burnaby property, invalidating a severance of joint tenancy carried out by the owner’s committee.
The court’s decision concluded a dispute over whether the owner’s committee, her adopted son, had the authority to sever a joint tenancy on the property prior to her death.
The property in question was owned by a woman who passed away in 2022 at the age of 105. In 2008, she transferred a 50 percent interest in the property to one of her grandchildren and registered the title in joint tenancy. A deed of gift signed in 2010 confirmed her intention that the joint tenancy included the right of survivorship, ensuring the grandchild would become the sole owner upon her death.
After the owner was declared incompetent in 2019, her committee severed the joint tenancy in 2021, claiming this action aligned with the owner’s estate intentions to distribute assets equally among her grandchildren. The severance became the focal point of the dispute, with the grandchild seeking to have it declared invalid.
The Supreme Court considered whether the committee acted within the authority granted under the Patients Property Act, which requires committees to act for the benefit of the patient and their family while adhering to the standards of a reasonable and prudent businessperson.
The committee argued that severing the joint tenancy was necessary to ensure the property’s value would be distributed equally among all grandchildren, reflecting the deceased owner’s intentions. However, the court found no evidence that the owner had ever intended to revoke the joint tenancy or alter her estate plan. While there was testimony that the owner expressed dissatisfaction with certain family conflicts, she had taken no steps to change her estate plan after the gift was made.
The court also determined that the severance served primarily to change the inheritance plan rather than to benefit the owner or her estate during her lifetime. Additionally, the court invalidated a document purporting to place conditions on the 2008 gift, finding it had been signed under undue influence. Ultimately, the court declared the severance invalid, affirming the grandchild’s entitlement to the entire property.
