Clarity needed in estates after divorce

Nina Bombier was mentioned in the Law Times article “Clarity needed in estates after divorce” on October 22, 2018. This article discusses the need for clarification in trusts and estates law, in the event of divorce.

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Moore blends in trusts law, family law and Ontario’s Insurance Act, says litigator Nina Bombier, a partner at Lenczner Slaght Royce Smith Griffin LLP in Toronto.

“So many of the separation agreements provide for designation of the beneficiary under a life insurance policy, really a security for future obligations should that spouse pass on,” she says.

“The interesting question the Supreme Court is going to decide is whether the Insurance Act and irrevocable designation can constitute a juristic reason for imposition of the trust.”

In Moore, there’s no written separation agreement and the courts didn’t dispute that there was an oral agreement with the wife, says Bombier. And, she says, the double promise wasn’t discovered until his death.