Report on a Succession Consolidation Statute, Final Report 87

This report advocates the consolidation of Alberta’s core succession statutes into one Act. A single piece of consolidated legislation covering all the essentials of statutory succession law would be a convenient reference tool for use by both practitioners and the public. The consolidated legislation will promote accessibility and ease of use of our statutory succession law. This report contains detailed research that identifies all succession-related statutes and statutory provisions and identifies Alberta legislation that is […]

December 29, 2002

Rules: Document Discovery and Examination for Discovery, Consultation Memorandum 12.2

Regarding the timeline for filing and serving an affidavit of records and the penalties for failing to comply with the rules in this regard, the Committee proposes that there be a specific onus on the party who failed to file the affidavit of records within the prescribed time to show why they should not incur a prescribed penalty. Regarding the appropriate scope of discovery of records the Committee proposes to keep the present test for […]

October 4, 2002

Rules: Commencement of Proceedings in Queen’s Bench, Consultation Memorandum 12.1

There are two basic types of court proceedings in the Court of Queen’s Bench: actions and applications. The General Rewrite Committee is of the view that the distinction between actions and applications should be retained. It favours having two ways to commence proceedings: one for actions and one for applications. It proposes to discard the archaic petition, and instead provide that in circumstances previously calling for the use of a petition, applications should be commenced […]

Creditor Access to Future Income Plans, Consultation Memorandum 11

This project addresses the question of whether registered retirement savings plans (RRSPs), deferred profit-sharing plans (DPSPs) and registered retirement income funds (RRIFs) should be exempt from the remedies of creditors. The present law is examined in depth, and looks at the conflicting policies relevant to the present study, as well as issues that arise from these conflicts. Issues raised in the memorandum are the pros and cons of whether Alberta law should recognize any exemption […]

June 4, 2002

Enduring Powers of Attorney, Issues Paper 5

The Alberta Law Reform Institute is considering whether to prepare a report and recommendations for the adoption of additional safeguards against abuse of Enduring Powers of Attorney (“EPAs”). In order that its consideration may be properly informed, the Institute solicits the comments and advice of the reader on these two questions: Should the law provide additional safeguards against abuse of Enduring Powers of Attorney (“EPAs”)? If the law should provide additional safeguards, what should the […]

February 4, 2002

Non-Resident Trustees Under the Dependent Adults Act, Final Report 86

A trustee under the Dependent Adults Act of Alberta handles some or all of the financial affairs of a dependent adult, depending on the terms of the trusteeship order. An individual cannot be appointed a trustee under the Dependent Adults Act unless the individual is a resident of Alberta. The Act’s prohibition of non-resident trustees creates significant practical difficulties if the only suitable or most suitable potential trustee is a non-resident or if an Alberta trustee is appointed and […]

January 29, 2002

Recognition of Rights and Obligations in Same Sex Relationships, Research Paper 21

In 1999, in M. v. H. (1999), 171 DLR (4th) 577 (SCC), the Supreme Court of Canada determined that any legislation which provided access to court-enforced spousal support rights to opposite-sex unmarried couples, while denying that access to equivalent same-sex couples, was unconstitutional (in that it violated s 15(1) of the Charter and was not saved by s 1) This paper surveys Alberta legislation current to the time of publication, and determines there are several points on inconsistency between […]

January 3, 2002

Standardizing Limitation Periods for Actions on Insurance Contracts, Consultation Memorandum 10

When the new Limitations Act came into force on March 1, 1999, a number of changes were made to the limitation law in Alberta. The limitation periods for actions on insurance contracts is in a state of confusion, several of the limitation periods that the Insurance Act prescribes are inconsistent with the general limitation periods in the Limitations Act. The scope of this project addresses issues which relate to rationalizing limitation periods for actions against insurers. The issues addressed and […]

December 4, 2001

Order of Application of Assets in Satisfaction of Debts and Liabilities, Report for Discussion 19

This report considers the payment of a person’s debts out of their estate after their death (at the time of publication). Over hundreds of years, a common law “order of application” had developed, that determined the order in which certain kinds of assets could be applied to pay off a debt, so that, for example, assets that were not given over as a gift to someone would be applied to pay off debts before those […]

September 2, 2001

Class Actions, Consultation Memorandum 9

This report makes recommendations to reform the existing procedure for handling a class action and proposes that Alberta enact a modern class actions statute based on the Canadian model that has been enacted in Quebec, Ontario, and British Columbia. Primary recommendations would add a procedure to the existing procedural framework for handling litigation involving multiple plaintiffs having the same or similar claims against the same defendant. Ancillary recommendations would add a procedure for handling litigation […]

December 4, 2000