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36580

Michele Ashley, et al. v. Robin Welsh

(Ontario) (Civil) (By Leave)

Docket

Judgments on applications for leave to appeal are rendered by the Court, but are not necessarily unanimous.

List of proceedings
Date Proceeding Filed By
(if applicable)
2016-01-22 Close file on Leave
2016-01-22 Copy of formal judgment sent to Registrar of the Court of Appeal and all parties
2016-01-22 Judgment on leave sent to the parties
2016-01-21 Judgment of the Court on the application for leave to appeal, The motion for an extension of time to serve and file the application for leave to appeal is granted. The application for leave to appeal from the judgment of the Court of Appeal for Ontario, Number C59466, 2015 ONCA 297, dated April 24, 2015, is dismissed with costs.
Dismissed, with costs
2016-01-21 Decision on motion to extend time to file and /or serve the leave application, See Judgment on leave application.
Granted
2015-12-07 All materials on application for leave submitted to the Judges, Abe Ka Br
2015-12-07 Submission of motion to extend time to file and/ or serve the leave application, Abe Ka Br
2015-09-28 Certificate (on limitations to public access), (Included in the respondent's response on the application for leave to appeal) Robin Welsh
2015-09-28 Response to the motion to extend the time to file and / or serve the leave application, (Included in the respondent's response on the application for leave to appeal), Completed on: 2015-09-28 Robin Welsh
2015-09-28 Respondent's response on the application for leave to appeal, (Book Form), Completed on: 2015-09-28 Robin Welsh
2015-08-31 Letter advising parties of a complete application for leave to appeal, File opened on 2015-08-31
2015-08-24 Certificate (on limitations to public access), (Included in the application for leave to appeal) Michele Ashley
2015-08-24 Letter acknowledging receipt of an application for leave to appeal
2015-08-24 Motion to extend the time to file and or serve the application for leave to appeal, (Included in the application for leave to appeal), Completed on: 2015-08-24 Michele Ashley
2015-08-24 Application for leave to appeal, Completed on: 2015-08-24 Michele Ashley

Parties

Please note that in the case of closed files, the “Status” column reflects the status of the parties at the time of the proceedings. For more information about the proceedings and about the dates when the file was open, please consult the docket of the case in question.

Main parties

Main parties - Appellants
Name Role Status
Ashley, Michele Applicant Active
Ashley, Michael Applicant Active

v.

Main parties - Respondents
Name Role Status
Welsh, Robin Respondent Active

Counsel

Party: Ashley, Michael

This party is not represented by counsel.

Party: Ashley, Michele

This party is not represented by counsel.

Party: Welsh, Robin

Counsel
Name
Joséphine Stark
Contact information
McTague Law Firm LLP
455 Pelissier Street
Windsor, Ontario
N9A 6Z9
Telephone: (519) 255-4356
FAX: (519) 255-4384
Email: jstark@mctaguelaw.com

Summary

Keywords

None.

Summary

Case summaries are prepared by the Office of the Registrar of the Supreme Court of Canada (Law Branch). Please note that summaries are not provided to the Judges of the Court. They are placed on the Court file and website for information purposes only.

Family law – Family assets – Pension death benefit – Separation agreement providing for wife’s entitlement to pension death benefit from husband’s employment pension – Husband changing beneficiaries of pension death benefit to his children – Husband dying before employment pension in payment – Wife not waiving rights to pension death benefit – Whether proper beneficiary of pension death benefit was deceased’s wife or his children.

The respondent, Ms. Welsh was the wife of the deceased, Mr. Poisson, up until the time of his death in June, 2012. At the time, they had been living separate and apart for several years. The applicants are the adult children of Mr. Poisson. Mr. Poisson had been a member of a pension plan through his place of employment at the time of his marriage and had designated Ms. Welsh as the beneficiary of his pension death benefits. Mr. Poisson and Ms. Welsh separated for a period of time in 2002 and during that time, Mr. Poisson changed that designation to his children. Mr. Poisson and Ms. Welsh reconciled and continued to live together until their final separation in August, 2007. A few months later, they entered into a separation agreement that dealt with their assets, including Mr. Poisson’s pension benefits. The separation agreement provided that Ms. Welsh was to be “considered the sole surviving spouse and shall receive all benefits payable to a surviving spouse under the plan.” Mr. Poisson was not in receipt of his pension at the time of his death. The plan administrators determined that given the terms of the separation agreement, Ms. Welsh alone was entitled to the pension death benefit. She sought a declaration that she was the sole beneficiary. The applicants maintained that she was only entitled to a proportionate share.

Lower court rulings

September 8, 2014
Ontario Superior Court of Justice

CV-14-20592, 2014 ONSC 5165

Wife entitled to 51.3 percent of pension death benefit and applicants entitled to 49.87 percent.

April 24, 2015
Court of Appeal for Ontario

C59466, 2015 ONCA 297

Appeal allowed; wife entitled to entire pension death benefit.

Filed documents

The memorandums of argument on an application for leave to appeal will be posted here 30 days after leave to appeal has been granted unless they contain personal information, information that is subject to a publication ban, or any other information that is not part of the public record. You may also obtain copies of the memorandum by filling out the Request for Court records form or by contacting the Court’s Records Centre either by email at records-dossiers@scc-csc.ca or by telephone at 613‑996‑7933 or at 1‑888‑551‑1185.

If you have questions about a memorandum of argument or want to use a memorandum of argument, please contact the author of the memorandum of argument directly. Their name appears at the end of the memorandum of argument. The contact information for counsel is found in the “Counsel” tab of this page.

Downloadable PDFs

Not available

The factums of the appellant, the respondent and the intervener will be posted here at least 2 weeks before the hearing unless they contain personal information, information that is subject to a publication ban, or any other information that is not part of the public record. You may also obtain copies of factums by filling out the Request for Court records form or by contacting the Court’s Records Centre either by email at records-dossiers@scc-csc.ca or by telephone at 613‑996‑7933 or at 1‑888‑551‑1185.

If you have questions about a factum or want permission to use a factum, please contact the author of the factum directly. Their contact information appears on the first page of each factum.

Downloadable PDFs

Not available

The condensed books of the appellant, the respondent and the intervener will be posted here upon receipt of the electronic version, 2 days prior to the scheduled appeal hearing. You may also obtain copies of condensed books by filling out the Request for Court records form or by contacting the Court’s Records Centre either by email at records-dossiers@scc-csc.ca or by telephone at 613‑996‑7933 or at 1‑888‑551‑1185.

If you have questions about a condensed book or want permission to use a condensed book, please contact the author of the condensed book directly. Their contact information appears on the first page of each condensed book.

Downloadable PDFs

Not available

Webcasts

Not available.

Date modified: 2025-02-27