Kids, including adopted adult children, can inherit Toronto Islands’ exclusive and restricted homes

by admin | Feb 20, 2021 | 2021 Toronto Star Property Law Columns, Toronto Star Property Law Columns

Can a 90-year-old man adopt a 58-year-old adult as his son in order to allow the younger one to acquire ownership of his Toronto Island home? That was the question facing Justice Markus Koehnen in an application brought by the Toronto Islands Community Trust Corp....

Who is liable if defects are found after a home inspection?

by admin | Feb 6, 2021 | 2021 Toronto Star Property Law Columns, Toronto Star Property Law Columns

Can a home inspector avoid legal responsibility if is an exclusion of liability clause in the inspection contract? In February, 2009, Michael Smith retained Terry Gordon, a registered home inspector, to inspect a house for sale in Dartmouth, N.S. Gordon presented...

It can be expensive to ignore the strict rules of a property easement

by admin | Jan 23, 2021 | 2021 Toronto Star Property Law Columns, Toronto Star Property Law Columns

Bob Aaron bob@aaron.ca The Ontario Court of Appeal has ordered two Oakville, Ont. homeowners to pay $40,000 in court costs and to remove a swimming pool they had built on top of a utility easement. The easement, in favour of the town of Oakville and Oakville Hydro,...

New homeowners who discovered hidden troves of cash — and how Canada’s courts decided who got it

by admin | Jan 9, 2021 | 2021 Toronto Star Property Law Columns, Toronto Star Property Law Columns

Bob Aaron bob@aaron.ca A discovery of $500,000 in cash and gold by Alberta homebuyers as they renovated their house in 2017 was the subject of my column in November https://www.aaron.ca/do-home-buyers-keep-the-500k-they-discover-in-their-house-during-renovations/. A...

Size does matter in published listings about properties for sale, says a pivotal new legal ruling

by admin | Dec 23, 2020 | 2020 Toronto Star Property Law Column, Toronto Star Property Law Columns

Bob Aaron bob@aaron.ca A century of Canadian legal precedents dealing with listings describing homes for sale were reversed late last year by an Ontario Court of Appeal decision that is being seen as one of the year’s most significant real estate law rulings. The case...

Unfair burdens are put on homeowners’ families and heirs by delays at Toronto estates court

by admin | Dec 9, 2020 | 2020 Toronto Star Property Law Column, Toronto Star Property Law Columns

Bob Aaron bob@aaron.ca When the heirs of a GTA deceased homeowner decide it’s time to sell the property, it typically takes the Ontario estates court many months to rubber-stamp probate documents allowing the sale to proceed. This delay is causing significant hardship...