Wieckoski Estate, Re, 2013 SKQB 297

• Judge: Barrington-Foote, J.
• Court: Court of Queen's Bench of Saskatchewan (Canada)
• Case Date: August 19, 2013
• Jurisdiction: Saskatchewan
• Citations: 2013 SKQB 297;(2013), 428 Sask.R. 53 (QB)

Wieckoski Estate, Re (2013), 428 Sask.R. 53 (QB)

MLB headnote and full text

Temp. Cite: [2013] Sask.R. TBEd. SE.019

In The Matter Of the Estate of Tekla Wieckoski in the Province of Saskatchewan, Deceased

(2008 SUR No. 485; 2013 SKQB 297)

Indexed As: Wieckoski Estate, Re

Saskatchewan Court of Queen's Bench

Judicial Centre of Regina

Barrington-Foote, J.

August 19, 2013.

Summary:

Wieckoski died intestate. The Public Guardian and Trustee of Saskatchewan applied pursuant to s. 46.4 of the Administration of Estates Act for directions as to whether it could distribute the assets of the estate to Wieckoski's nieces and nephews who were alive at the time of her death.

The Saskatchewan Court of Queen's Bench held that the Trustee could distribute the assets to the nieces and nephews.

Devolution of Estates - Topic 505

Devolution - General - Intestacy - Distribution of assets - Applicable legislation - [See Executors and Administrators - Topic 3716 ].

Executors and Administrators - Topic 3716

Duties and powers of executors and administrators - Distribution - General - Application for distribution or partial distribution - Wieckoski died intestate in 1981 in Poland - Letters of administration were issued in 2008 - Her estate consisted of the mineral rights and income from land in Saskatchewan - A search for potential heirs was conducted by two heir locating companies and a Polish genealogical firm - Pursuant to a 2012 court order, Wieckoski's son was declared dead and was presumed to have died in 1940 - The evidence indicated that Wieckoski's heirs likely consisted of 10 nieces and nephews - The Public Guardian and Trustee applied pursuant to s. 46.4 of the Administration of Estates Act for directions as to whether it could distribute the assets of the estate to the nieces and nephews - Section 46.4 provided that an administrator could apply for directions from the court "on any question respecting the management or administration of the estate" - The Saskatchewan Court of Queen's Bench held that the Trustee could distribute the assets to the nieces and nephews - The Trustee's question would not finally determine what beneficiaries were entitled to the estate, or foreclose competing or additional claims by others - Rather, it would permit distribution "on the footing" that the nieces and nephews were the only surviving beneficiaries - Accordingly, the Trustee's question was a matter of administration - Even if s. 46.4 did not grant the authority to authorize a distribution where there was uncertainty as to whether all beneficiaries had been identified, the court had such authority at common law - The Trustee had made sufficient enquiries to identify the beneficiaries of the estate - The searches were thorough and extensive and were made in all appropriate jurisdictions, including Poland.

Cases Noticed:

Burke, Re, [1928] 1 D.L.R. 318; [1927] 3 W.W.R. 718 (Sask. K.B.), refd to. [para. 8].

Oliphant Estate, Re (1990), 84 Sask.R. 44 (Q.B.), refd to. [para. 8].

Benjamin, Re, [1902] 1 Ch. D. 723, agreed with [para. 16].

Green Estate, Re (1951), 2 W.W.R.(N.S.) 590 (Man. K.B.), refd to. [para. 18].

McLea Estate, Re, [1948] 2 W.W.R. 12 (Man. K.B.), refd to. [para. 20].

Hansell v. Spink, [1943] 1 Ch. D. 396, refd to. [para. 20].

Hall Estate v. Anderson Estate (Public Trustee of) (1996), 50 C.P.C.(3d) 183 (B.C.S.C.), refd to. [para. 21].

Statutes Noticed:

Administration of Estates Act, S.S. 1998, c. A-4.1, sect. 46.4 [para. 10].

Authors and Works Noticed:

Waters, Donovan W.M., Gillen, Mark R., and Smith, Lionel D., Waters' Law of Trusts in Canada (3rd Ed. 2005), pp. 1108, 1109 [para. 13]; 1110 [paras. 13, 14]; 1110, footnote 139 [para. 15]; 1111 to 1113 [para. 13]; 1314 [para. 15].

Counsel:

Carolyn Decker, for the Public Guardian and Trustee;

Nikki A. Rudachyk, for the Mondex Corporation.

This application was heard before Barrington-Foote, J., of the Saskatchewan Court of Queen's Bench, Judicial Centre of Regina, who delivered the following judgment on August 19, 2013.