If someone owes you money, breached a contract, or damaged your property, your first real decision isn't how to win — it's where to sue. Ontario's civil court system splits disputes between two very different forums: the Small Claims Court and the Superior Court of Justice.

Most people assume that if they die without a will, their spouse simply inherits everything, or their family sorts it out amicably. In Ontario, neither assumption is safe. When someone dies without a valid will, they are said to have died "intestate," and the province's Succession Law Reform Act (SLRA) takes over.