Failing to deliver a deposit after an offer is accepted may result in a claim against the buyer

In the recent case of Gagliardi v. Al-Karawi, 2023 ONSC 6853, the buyer accepted the sellers’ counter-offer but backed away from the deal shortly thereafter without paying the agreed upon deposit of $40,000. The sellers subsequently sold the property to another buyer for $12,473 less than the purchase price under the original Agreement of Purchase and Sale, and brought a summary judgement against the defendant buyer seeking damages for loss and forfeiture of the deposit - even though the deposit was never actually paid. 

Ultimately, the defendant buyer was ordered to pay the $40,000 deposit plus interest and costs. 

Before submitting an offer on behalf of buyer clients, agents should always make sure that the buyers are aware of their obligations if the offer is accepted and that they may be held liable if they fail to deliver the deposit as agreed to in the accepted offer.

Read the full decision here: https://www.canlii.org/en/on/onsc/doc/2023/2023onsc6853/2023onsc6853.html

Werhun Law is a law firm located in Etobicoke serving the Greater Toronto Area. Werhun Law provides services primarily in residential and commercial real estate, mortgages, commercial leasing, and wills and estates. If you have any questions or are in need of legal services you can contact us at info@werhunlaw.com.

The information in this post is for general informational purposes only. It does not constitute legal advice and does not create a solicitor-client relationship.

What is the Estate Information Return?

If you are acting as an estate trustee (also referred to as an “estate administrator” or “estate executor”) and have been issued a Certificate of Appointment of Estate Trustee, do not forget to file the Estate Information Return (EIR) form with the Ontario Ministry of Finance.

The EIR provides information to the Ministry of Finance under the Estate Administration Tax Act, 1998, and must be filed by anyone who received a Certificate of Appointment of Estate Trustee (ie. probate), even if the value of the estate is equal to or less than $50,000 and no estate administration tax was paid. When submitting the return, the estate trustee is required to set out in detail the assets of the deceased and how the amount of the estate administration tax paid at the time that the Certificate of Appointment of Estate Trustee was applied for was calculated. 

The initial return must be received by the Ministry within 180 calendar days after the Certificate of Appointment of Estate Trustee is issued. Further, if within four years after the issuance of the Certificate of Appointment, an estate trustee becomes aware that the information submitted was incorrect or incomplete, the trustee must deliver an amended return to the Ministry of Finance within 60 calendar days of the trustee becoming aware of the inconsistency. Failure to file the form, or making false or misleading information in the form, could lead to fines or even imprisonment. 

The form is available on the Ontario Central Forms Repository website at https://forms.mgcs.gov.on.ca/en/dataset/9955, and can be submitted either online or by mail.

Werhun Law is a law firm located in Etobicoke serving the Greater Toronto Area. Werhun Law provides services primarily in residential and commercial real estate, mortgages, commercial leasing, and wills and estates. If you have any questions or are in need of legal services you can contact us at info@werhunlaw.com.

The information in this post is for general informational purposes only. It does not constitute legal advice and does not create a solicitor-client relationship.

My loved one has passed away: how do I find out if they had a Will?

If your loved one has passed away and it is not clear to you whether or not they had a Will, the process of trying to locate the Will can be daunting but there are various places that you can search.

This includes the deceased’s home or office. You can also inquire with their financial institutions as well as the deceased’s advisors, including financial advisors, accountants and lawyers for example.

If you suspect that a particular lawyer may have prepared a Will but the lawyer is no longer practicing, you can reach out to the Law Society of Ontario to find out if they have the Will or have a record of where the lawyer’s files may be stored. If the deceased did not have a relationship with a particular lawyer, you can try calling law offices in the area where the deceased resided to find out if they may have acted on the preparation of a Will for the deceased.

You can also try contacting your local courthouse to find out if the deceased may have deposited the original Will with the Court. Another option is to search the Canada Will Registry in the event that the deceased created a record in the Registry to document where their original Will is stored. There is a fee for the search and is can be done at https://canadawillregistry.org/consumer-will-search or noticeconnect.com. You can also have a lawyer conduct a search using Will Check at willcheck.ca.

Another option is to place an ad in the Ontario Reports, which is typically sent out by email to all lawyers in the Province of Ontario on a weekly basis.

If the estate of the deceased must be probated and you plan to apply to the court for a Certificate of Appointment of Estate Trustee Without a Will (also referred to as an “estate executor” or “estate administrator”), you will be required to declare in the Application for a Certificate of Appointment of Estate Trustee that you have “carefully” searched for a Will and were not able to locate it, so you have a legal obligation to try to locate a Will if one does indeed exist.

To inquire about our Will & POA packages, contact us at info@werhunlaw.com.

Werhun Law is a law firm located in Etobicoke serving the Greater Toronto Area. Werhun Law provides services primarily in residential and commercial real estate, mortgages, commercial leasing, and wills and estates. If you have any questions or are in need of legal services you can contact us at info@werhunlaw.com.

The information in this post is for general informational purposes only. It does not constitute legal advice and does not create a solicitor-client relationship.