In a very brief decision, the Court of Appeal today said, in Godoy v. 475920 Ontario Ltd., that “if the principal claim is statute-barred the derivative claim under the Family Law Act is also barred”. Here, the principal claim was subject to the limitation period under s. 38(3) of the Trustee Act: two years from the date of death. The discoverability principle does not apply to that limitation period. Claims under the Family Law Act, being derivative of the cause of action of the person injured or killed, stand in no better position, even though in another case (say, one involving personal injury rather than death), the discoverability principle might postpone the commencement of the limitation period.
The fact that no claim had actually been advanced on behalf of the deceased was held to make no difference.