A loan payment to bail a family member out of jail became the subject of a BC legal case.
According to a publicly posted decision, the BC Civil Resolution Tribunal had to determine whether the loan payment was a gift or something that needed to be paid back.
The applicants in the case, Victoria and Deborah Barton, say they loaned respondents Bruce Endicott and Shaely Wilbur the money, while Endicott and Wilbur claim the money was a gift.
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The applicants told the tribunal that they sent the respondents $2,000 to bail a mutual family member out of a BC jail. They asked the tribunal for the return of the $2,000.
The respondents had to prove to the tribunal that the loan was a gift, but the tribunal faced a he-said-she-said type scenario. Thankfully, text messages made the tribunal’s decision a little bit easier.
Both of the respondents said that there was no loan or loan agreement.
For proof, the respondents pointed to a text that read, “My mom would like to send [the family member] some money.”
The tribunal disagreed that this message established any proof that the loan was a gift. According to the tribunal, the respondents also had a problem because they only clipped a portion of a larger text, leaving out context.
Deborah provided her own text messages in evidence, including one asking Wilbur when the money would be returned. In response to that message, Wilbur agreed to transfer an undisclosed sum, leading the tribunal to believe that there was an expectation that the money would be returned.
“As noted, the law of gifts requires that the respondents prove that Ms. Barton intended the $2,000 as a gift,” the tribunal decision says.
“The evidence before me does not show that Ms. Barton had this intention. As the respondents have not met their burden of demonstrating that the $2,000 they received was a gift, they must repay this amount to Ms. Barton.”
Including the tribunal fees, Wilbur and Endicott were ordered to pay $2,109.81.