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BC Hydro George Massey Tunnel Transmission Relocation Project

The Province is proposing to replace the existing four-lane George Massey Tunnel with a new, eight-lane immersed tube tunnel, and will decommission the existing tunnel once the new tunnel is in operation

A section of one of our power lines crosses the Fraser River through the existing George Massey Tunnel, so we need to relocate it before the tunnel is decommissioned We’re studying three alternatives that include both overhead and underground lines for this project.

Please share your feedback on these alternatives by participating in our online survey. Visit bchydro.com/gmt to participate in the consultation between now and February 25, 2023.

Visit bchydro com/gmt for more information

Contact us at 604 623 4472 or at projects@bchydro.com.

How important it is to plan your land ownership

Introduction

In British Columbia, land ownership has always been the wish of most everyone When I started practice, decades ago, the system of land transfers and ownership was more simple There were no computers in existence Everything was on paper and manually completed The law was different as well In particular, the concept of “joint” ownership was for the most part, straightforward For example, if a married couple owned their home and received legal advice most likely they owned the home in a joint tenancy and if one spouse died, title transferred by way of transmission to the surviving spouse Legally, this transmission was via the concept of the Right of Survivorship The law has evolved, to the extent that the right of survivorship is more complex and can be gifted Therefore, it is in my view no longer as straightforward To illustrate, reasons for judgment (released last week by B.C. Supreme Court) in a case called Preskar Estate v Wagner are worth a look. Arguably title planning is more important than ever

Background

The Court called this case “most unfortunate” The deceased was in a marriage-like relationship with the defendant, since 1994. In 1999, they had a child, who is Plaintiff in this case They purchased a house in the Okanagan, in 2002. Title was registered as a joint tenancy In 2006, though, the couple stopped living together and the defendant moved out. In 2007, thedeceasedlaunchedaMatrimonialaction.Thedefendantcounterclaimed and the action became apparently acrimonious. The Court concluded that litigation fatigue (and probably a lot of expense) accumulated and the action was never resolved before the deceased died, in 2020.

The title to the home remained registered as a joint tenancy No steps were taken by any person to change the joint tenancy ownership before the deceased died (what could and perhaps should have been done is a severance of the joint tenancy into a tenancy in common. That would have resulted in the deceased’s interest falling into his Estate, such that thePlaintiffwouldhaveinherited).ThePlaintiffistheExecutorofEstate

The Will, however, did not make a specific reference to the property

The Plaintiff was simply named the sole beneficiary of the residue of the Estate (after some minor, specific gifts mentioned in the Will).

The Plaintiff applied for a Court Order that the joint tenancy in the property was actually severed such that the Estate owned a one-half interest in it.

Courts decision

The Court noted that because the couple separated before 2013 and never married, neither could make a claim under the then existing legislation, to an interest in the property Also there was no Separation Agreement.

Therefore, the claim of the Plaintiff had to proceed under common law (read, old law, here).

The Plaintiff had advanced 3 precedent cases, which the Court reviewed

The Judge concluded that one aspect of our common law is that a joint tenancy can be legally severed through a “ course of conduct” that the owners followed over time The Court had to decide whether the parties, essentially behaved in such a way over years, that their joint tenancy was indeed severed

The Court held, in this case, that the joint tenancy was in fact severed

The couple had a very bitter separation and each of them “ was asserting independent claims in respect of the property In fact, the defendant claimed relief by way of a Partition and Sale That legal remedy is one whereanownerclaimsthatthepropertyshouldbesoldandtheproceeds divided between the owners.

Thus, the property was deemed to be a Tenancy in Common and half of it fell into the deceaseds Estate The Plaintiff was successful, though the defendant was still a half owner She did not lose all interest in the property

Conclusions

The first conclusion is simply that when a couple is purchasing a property, it is more prudent than ever to discuss with a professional (in my view) how they want to register their ownership It is of particular significance where the couple is in a subsequent relationship, and with children from prior relationships. They should also consider some kind of Agreement, to confirm what they would want done with the property on death or break up (whether a Marriage Agreement, Co-Habitation agreement or other). The mere registration on title of a Joint Tenancy or Tenancy in Common may well not be enough to settle any future concerns, as you see in this case

Something else

Earlier this week, CBC News reported an apparently growing problem of fraudulent sales of properties across Canada. In this situation, a person ’ s home may be sold without them even knowing At the root of it is the problem of fake ID This has surfaced in BC before, where fake ID caused several fraudulent mortgages to be registered on titles across BC on several properties. One step to take for your own property is regular title searching (which is not expensive), to monitor whether anything is happening to your title Another is to remove the duplicate certificate of title from the Land Registry office

Visit our website (www WillPowerLaw com) or call us at (604)233-7001 to discuss your Wills, Estates and Seniors’ questions

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