Case information

Constitutional law — Charter of Rights — Fundamental justice — Succession — Applicant commencing originating application against his mother’s succession, his brother, liquidator of succession of their deceased sister, individual notaries, and professional liability insurance fund of Chambre des notaires du Québec — Applicant seeking to annul or invalidate act of gift from 2002 by which mother allegedly gifted family property to sister — Trial judge ruling in favour of respondents — Court of Appeal denying applicant leave to appeal — Whether there was violation of principles of fundamental justice — Court’s duty to be intensive in assisting unrepresented litigant — Whether management measures and procedural obligations set out in Code of Civil Procedure must be interpreted restrictively — Code of Civil Procedure, CQLR, c. C-25.01, arts. 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 251, 258, 259, 260 — Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, s. 7.

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.

The applicant, Sylvain Pilon, is co-heir of the succession of his mother, Réjeanne Latendresse, who died in 2021, as well as co-liquidator with his brother. In 2024, the applicant commenced an originating application against his mother’s succession, as well as against his brother in his capacity as co-liquidator; against the liquidator of the succession of their deceased sister; against certain notaries; and against the professional liability insurance fund of Chambre des notaires du Québec. The proceeding instituted sought, among other things, the annulment (through an application in improbation) of an act of gift from 2002 by which the applicant’s mother apparently gifted the family property to the applicant’s sister, as well as the disclosure of certain documents in the possession of third parties. The respondent Chambre des notaires du Québec, through its insurance fund, filed an application to declare that the proceeding instituted was inconsistent with the rules of the Code of Civil Procedure and to order that the application in improbation of the act of gift be dismissed.

The trial judge ordered the filing of a new originating application consistent with the requirements of the Code of Civil Procedure, the dismissal of the application in improbation with respect to the act of gift of the property, and the disclosure of certain documents in the possession of third parties. A Court of Appeal judge sitting alone refused to grant the applicant leave to appeal the trial judgment.