The Supreme Court of Canada has ruled that insurers can overturn a declaration of death if there is sufficient evidence, on a balance of probabilities, that the person is still alive, even in cases involving years of disappearance and a prior court order.Blacklock's Reporter says the unanimous 9-0 decision came after a life insurance company challenged a $550,000 payout on a policyholder who had been legally declared dead following his disappearance more than a decade ago.Writing for the court, Chief Justice Richard Wagner said courts do not require absolute certainty to conclude a person previously declared dead may in fact be alive.“Evidence that the person declared dead is currently alive must satisfy the courts on a balance of probabilities,” Wagner wrote. He added that while the standard is lower than proof beyond a reasonable doubt, it still requires “clear and convincing evidence,” particularly in cases with serious consequences.The case centred on Hooshang Imanpoorsaid, a 57-year-old Iranian-born salesman from Brossard, Que., who vanished in 2008 after telling his family he was travelling to Toronto for business.According to court records, he left home with luggage in what appeared to be a routine trip. .The following day, he sent an email to his children stating he was “OK” but apologizing for causing stress, adding that “things got out of hand and to fix it, drastic measures are necessary.”He was never seen again.Seven years after his disappearance, his wife obtained a Québec Superior Court declaration of death in order to collect a $550,000 life insurance policy issued by Ivari Canada.That declaration triggered a dispute after the insurer launched an investigation into his disappearance and challenged whether he was actually deceased.Court filings revealed troubling financial history, including allegations that Imanpoorsaid had accumulated significant debts, forged his wife’s signature to obtain loans, misused retirement savings, and embezzled funds from clients prior to vanishing.Investigators also found evidence suggesting he did not travel to Toronto as claimed, but instead boarded a flight to Amsterdam. The insurer further argued he may have fled to Iran, citing records showing a man with the same name appearing in Iranian state documentation and passport systems.The Supreme Court considered whether a person previously declared dead must physically reappear to overturn that status, or whether credible evidence of continued life is enough..Imanpoorsaid’s widow argued that only “certain and unquestionable proof” should be sufficient to reverse a declaration of death, warning that anything less would undermine legal certainty for families.The court rejected that position, ruling instead that the civil standard of proof applies.Wagner wrote that insurers do not need to prove beyond doubt that a person is alive, only that it is more likely than not. “That was the object of its proof,” he said.The ruling clarifies that declarations of death are not irreversible if credible, probative evidence later emerges suggesting the person may still be alive, even many years after disappearance.
