
Vicâs Law Blog
CANADA LAW NEWS
Law is perpetually evolving. Lawyers must too.
Learn about the latest legal issues, cases, and news in Vicâs law blog.

Disinherited Daughters: the law again protects daughter in willsâ variation/estate litigation case.
The B.C. Supreme Court found that Yat Hei Law, the mother of Ginny Lam and William Law, left $2.9 million to her son and only $170,000 to her daughter. Justice Maria Morellato ruled the decision was influenced by gender-based preferences. "This bias shaped both the lifetime gifts and the 2018 will," the judge wrote.
Your future ICBC, car collision, and catastrophic/chronic injury rights.
Catastrophic injuries are severe damage or impairments to your body, bones, person, or life. Go out. Support the injured. Keep insurers accountable. Fight for your rights. Lower car insurance costs. And, letâs limit ICBCâs unjust and unfair monopoly.
Tragedy: the reality of ICBCs no-fault insurance.
This is the truth of no-fault insurance. The tragic reality. The sad state of ICBCâs monopoly.
Unhappy with your current ICBC/Personal Injury lawyer? You have options.
WHY CHANGE YOUR ICBC INJURY LAWYER:
The lawyer is not responsive to their clientâs phone calls and/or emails.
The lawyer takes too long to conclude an injured victimâs file whether settlement or trial.
The lawyer is not willing to go to Trial and/or is inexperienced in it.
The lawyer undervalues an injured victimâs claim (e.g. asking the client to settle for much less than deserved).
BC Deflated: Liberals drop out. What this means for your personal injury/ICBC rights.
The rumors were swirling. The partyâs lack of popularity followed their candidates much like a typical Vancouver winter cloud. Much like Wilson, BC United ultimately deflated and drifted away into the abyss of irrelevance.
Wills & Estates: the difference of a âgiftâ & a âloanâ between parents, their children, & property purchases.
In this heart-wrenching legal case, a family's grief over the loss of their daughter, a young RCMP officer, erupted into a fierce courtroom battle over $300,000. The officerâs parents, who had provided the funds to help her purchase her first home, claimed it was a loan. But her spouse insisted it was a gift, a crucial distinction that would determine whether the widow or the parents would keep the money.
BC Court of Appeal Clarifies Law on Future Income Loss
"The Courtâs reference to awarding the plaintiff their âentire annual income for one or more yearsâ has, unfortunately, sometimes been read as if it allows a court to arbitrarily assign an amount for the plaintiffâs loss. At trial, the defendantâs suggestion that an award of a year or two yearsâ salary would be appropriate appears to me to stem from a misunderstanding of Pallos. While a court can quantify the plaintiffâs damages for loss of future earning capacity in that way, it is required to carefully consider the evidence, and come to a fair assessment of the plaintiffâs loss."
10 Objections you will hear in a Civil Trial.
OBJECTION: PREJUDICIAL
Evidence may be excluded where its prejudicial impact outweighs its probative value. Prejudicial here does not mean simply that it is damaging to a partyâs case. Evidence may be excluded on this ground where it appears the evidence may:
Clash of the Executors: Brothers at Arms
When a will is drafted, an executor of the estate is appointed in the will. The executor is essentially assigned to help manage the deceasedâs affairs/estate after he or she passes away. The executor may be your lawyer, or alternatively your children, among others. Sometimes, a will-maker appoints co-executors - e.g. two siblings - to determine how the will-makerâs estate ought to be handled. Unfortunately, this can lead to significant challenges once the will-maker passes because the co-executors disagree in how to manage the deceased will-makerâs estate.
It is best to appoint 1 or 3 executors which permits unilateral or majority decision making when it comes to management of the deceasedâs Estate.
Breast Augmentation: the BCSC interprets the Protection of Public Participation Act.
Google review: NOTHING WAS SUGGESTED in regards of a âdifferent approach.â The only advice I rejected of Petersonâs, is when I took Dr. Valniceks suggestion making one implant 30cc bigger, again I am so thankful I did not take Peterson's misguided advice or my breasts would still not be symmetrical like they are todayâŠ.
Also I have spoken to a number of people with similar experiences after my review went viral. Peterson constantly tries to take down my review and publicly bully me. Iâd suggest taking note of the â5-starâ reviews all similar praise with Peterson being their own review. Why is it there is not one negative? If you write any other word then breast he has leverage to take down your post. Awareness. Donât learn the painful way. My website has detailed pictures of his work.
ICBC wins lottery; denies liability (*until 2 days before trial).
A Mediation, for example, is an expensive process. Mediators regularly charge approximately $500.00 per hour which does not include the cost of the room rental, and transcribers/court reporters. Despite this, ICBC attends meretriciously: with no intentions of settling. At the same time, one must ask: why wouldnât they abuse the system like this? They have, quite honestly, just hit the lottery with the inception of no fault insurance which promises them years and years of profits north of a billion dollars. And, as we all know, they are the only game in town; they have zero competition. Must be nice, right?
They dictate and take as they please.
The Law on Powers of Attorney & Rep. Agreements
The recent case of Putman v Putman, 2021 BCSC 1700, discussed the Power of Attorney Act and Representation Agreement Act and the applicable law to the aforementioned legal instruments. In this case, the petitioner, David Putman, and the respondent, Linda Putman, were brother and sister; they were jointly appointed as attorneys pursuant to an enduring power of attorney granted by their mother, Margaret Putman. The respondent has also been appointed as Margaretâs representative pursuant to a representation agreement made pursuant to s. 9 of the Representation Agreement Act, R.S.B.C. 1996, c. 405 (the âRA Actâ). The two siblings were unable to agree as to the appropriate medical treatment for their mother and likely more so, how best to deal with valuable real estate owned by their mother; alas, another case where finances get in the middle of sibling relationships.