What are the principles used by the courts to remove an estate trustee?
British Columbia, Canada
The following excerpt is from Burke v Burke, 2019 BCSC 383 (CanLII):
I accept the principles pertaining to the removal of an estate trustee set out by Madam Justice Nolan in Haines v. Haines, 2012 ONSC 1816 at para. 10 as equally applicable to the removal of the trustee: In Johnson v. Lanka, 2010 ONSC 4124, (2010), 103 O.R. (3d) 258 at para. 15, Pattillo J. summarized the principles that should guide the court’s discretion in deciding whether to remove estate trustees: (1) the court will not lightly interfere with the testator’s choice of estate trustee; (2) clear evidence of necessity is required; (3) the court’s main consideration is the welfare of the beneficiaries; and (4) the estate trustee’s acts or omissions must be of such a nature as to endanger the administration of the trust.
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