What happens when a man is married, but is in another relationship? Can their mistress be considered a dependant in addition to their wife? In the case of Prelorentzos v. Havaris the deceased had died at the age of 71 leaving behind his wife with whom he had separated from but never divorced. During the time of his separation, he lived with a woman named Helen whom he initially took in as an act of kindness as she had nowhere else to live.
Helen claimed that she lived with him in the same household for about 9 years and that she was a common law spouse of the deceased. The court noted that the only missing link in this case was whether Helen and the deceased had cohabited. The wife claims that the deceased always intended to resume his relationship with her and this is why they never got divorced. Justice Grace quoted Cummings v. Cummings and Tataryn v. As Blair J. Cummings at para. When judging whether a deceased has made adequate provision for the proper support of his or her dependants and, if not, what order should be made under the [ SLRA ], a court must examine the claims of all dependants, whether based on need or on legal or ethical obligations.
This is so by reason of the dictates of the common law and the provisions of ss. Blair J. At para. He wrote:. In my view these questions have been resolved by the decision of the Supreme Court of Canada in Tataryn v. I see no reason why the principles of Tataryn should not apply equally in Ontario, even though they were enunciated in the context of the British Columbia Wills Variation Act β¦in which the language is somewhat different from that of the Succession Law Reform Act.
In this case, the court did not focus on the fact that the deceased already had a wife. Rather, the court was concerned with the moral obligations of the deceased to provide support to Helen.
Judges are continually defining the limit and scope of dependants and who shall be considered to be a dependant still varies from case to case. Skip to content January 21, August 28, The wife and the mistress In the case of Prelorentzos v. Moral Considerations are important Justice Grace quoted Cummings v. He wrote: In my view these questions have been resolved by the decision of the Supreme Court of Canada in Tataryn v.
