Court of British Columbia Finds Breach of Fiduciary Duty

Mrs. Sledin met Mr. Rusin in 1971. Following her husband’s death, Mrs. Sledin relied on Mr. Rusin’s help in many regards (e.g. she did not have a driver’s license).

 In 1994, Mrs. Sledin sold her home to Mr. Rusin for $270,000 and received a debenture from one of Mr. Rusin’s companies amounting to $260,000. A couple of months later, Mr. Rusin resold the home, making a profit of $311,000. Mrs. Sledin did not receive any of the principal of the debenture and only received a small amount of interest because the company was struck from the Registrar of Company after Mr. Rusin failed to keep his Registrar of Company filings up to date.

In 1996, Mrs. Sledin suffered a stroke and her nephew was appointed as her guardian. The nephew asked Mr. Rusin for an accounting, and Mr. Rusin failed to provide one. Mrs. Sledin died in September 2000 with $31,000 in cash, a $12,400 Guaranteed Investment Certificate, and a Term Investment of $10,000. Mrs. Sledin’s had invested large amounts of money with Mr. Rusin during her life, and the executor of her estate sued Mr. Rusin.

In Sledin Estate v. Rusin 2011 BCSC 1207, the court held that Mr. Rusin owed fiduciary duties to Mrs. Sledin and that he breached those duties by failing to properly record investments, provide adequate security for her investments, keep his Registrar of Company filings up to date, or repay Mrs. Sledin the principal amounts she invested with him.

See Stan Rule, Sledin Estate v. Rusin, Rule of Law, October 10, 2011.

Special thanks to Jim Hillhouse (WealthCounsel) for bringing this blog post to my attention.