REPORTS of FAMILY LAW Seventh Series/Septi`Eme S´Erie Recueil De Jurisprudence En Droit De La Famille VOLUME 75 (Cited 75 R.F.L
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REPORTS OF FAMILY LAW Seventh Series/Septi`eme s´erie Recueil de jurisprudence en droit de la famille VOLUME 75 (Cited 75 R.F.L. (7th)) EDITOR-IN-CHIEF/REDACTEUR´ EN CHEF Philip Epstein, Q.C., L.S.M. Epstein Cole LLP, Toronto, Ontario ASSOCIATE EDITORS/REDACTEURS´ ADJOINTS Aaron Franks, B.COMM., LL.B., M.B.A. Melanie Kraft, LL.B. Roslyn Tsao, LL.B. Ilana Zylberman, LL.B. Epstein Cole LLP, Toronto, Ontario David C. Day, Q.C. E.F. Anthony Merchant, Q.C., B.A., Lewis, Day LL.B., D.ADMIN. St. John’s, Newfoundland Merchant Law Group Regina, Saskatchewan Donald M. Hendy, B.C.L. Harold Niman, B.A., LL.B. Hendy, Greenberg Niman Zemans Gelgoot Montr´eal, Qu´ebec Toronto, Ontario Marie L. Gordon, Q.C. Andrew J. Freedman, CA•IFA, Gordon Zwaenepoel CBV, ASA Edmonton, Alberta Duff & Phelps Toronto, Ontario EDITORIAL STAFF/REDACTION´ Cheryl L. McPherson, B.A.(HONS.) Andrea Benjamin, M.A., J.D. Director, Primary Content Operations Product Development Manager Nicole Ross, B.A., LL.B. 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ISSN 0317-4859 ISBN 978-0-7798-3789-2 Printed in Canada by Thomson Reuters THOMSON REUTERS CANADA, A DIVISION OF THOMSON REUTERS CANADA LIMITED One Corporate Plaza Customer Relations 2075 Kennedy Road Toronto 1-416-609-3800 Toronto, Ontario Elsewhere in Canada/U.S. 1-800-387-5164 M1T 3V4 Fax 1-416-298-5082 www.carswell.com Contact www.carswell.com/email REPORTS OF FAMILY LAW Seventh Series/Septi`eme s´erie Recueil de jurisprudence en droit de la famille [Indexed as: Yin v. Liu] Xin He Yin, Respondent (Claimant) and Jinsong Liu a.k.a. Jin Song Liu, Appellant (Respondent) British Columbia Court of Appeal Docket: Vancouver CA42594 2016 BCCA 153 Saunders, Neilson, MacKenzie JJ.A. Heard: April 6, 2016 Judgment: April 6, 2016 Family law –––– Domestic contracts and settlements — Validity — Formal validity — Formation of contract –––– Parties were involved in litigation re- garding family law issues — Parties resolved most issues at settlement confer- ence, but did not resolve husband’s right to claim indemnity against wife in ac- tion that had been commenced against him in China — Wife’s counsel sent husband’s counsel draft consent order that included indemnity clause, but word- ing of indemnity clause was not agreed upon — Judge dismissed husband’s ap- plication for declaration that settlement of all issues was reached — Judge found that issue of indemnity clause was important to parties — Judge held that ex- change of drafts between counsel and discussions in court did not result in agreement — Discussion of different possible formulations of indemnity clauses revealed, at most, agreement to agree — Judge held that, whether binding agree- ment was reached did not depend on subjective views of parties, but on what reasonable third-party observer would conclude — Husband appealed — Appeal dismissed — There was no basis to interfere with order — Judge concluded that husband did not accept wife’s offered indemnity clause, which accorded with proposition that counter offer took original offer away — Throughout negotia- tions, husband demonstrated importance of indemnity term — It could not be said that essence of term was agreed once wife proposed certain language be- cause husband proposed different version of clause, making his new version cur- rent offer. 2 REPORTS OF FAMILY LAW 75 R.F.L. (7th) Cases considered by Saunders J.A.: Beck v. Bachman (2014), 2014 BCSC 1996, 2014 CarswellBC 3150, 51 R.F.L. (7th) 357 (B.C. S.C.) — considered APPEAL by husband from judgment reported at Yin v. Liu (2015), 2015 BCSC 277, 2015 CarswellBC 435, 57 R.F.L. (7th) 289 (B.C. S.C.), dismissing hus- band’s application for declaration that parties entered into binding settlement of all issues in this action. R. Van Der Mark, for Appellant A.E.