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Unfair Assets

Unfair Asset Transfers

Often there are assets that do not pass through the estate.

We're here to help with your challenging asset transfers.

This is sometimes done to avoid probate fees or estate taxes, or to avoid challenges to the distribution of the estate. Some examples are where a home is transferred into joint tenancy with another person, where someone is added to a joint bank account, or where someone is added as a beneficiary to an investment, pension, or life insurance policy. Sometimes a person will gift assets to their beneficiaries or set up a trust during their lifetime.

It is possible to challenge these asset transfers if the deceased was unduly influenced, lacked the mental capacity to make the transfer, or did not intend for the recipient to keep the full benefit of the asset. Our lawyers can guide you through the legal process if you are dealing with an unfair asset transfer.

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  • Litigation & Dispute Resolution

Protecting a second mortgagee’s priority over further advances on a first mortgage: First Accredit Mortgage Corp. v. Pitman-Jelley, 2026 BCSC 1029

Thomas Hanson,Jeremy West

Lenders with second (or subsequent) mortgage security generally assume that registration will automatically protect their priority over further advances made under a prior encumbrance. That expectation is only elevated when they have received a payout statement from the priority lender confirming the outstanding balance due and owing on the priority mortgage.

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