“While the law concerning gratuitous transfers as articulated in the leading case from the Supreme Court of Canada in Pecore v. Pecore 2007 SCC 17 is not on point, I did find some assistance in a gratuitous transfer case decided by the Ontario Court of Appeal in Barber v Magee 139 OR (3d) 78, 2017 ONCA 558, 139 OR (3d) 78, In discussing a case of a gratuitous transfer between family members, in Barber at para 4 the Ontario Court of Appeal discussed the difference between gifts and loans stating;
[4] Generally, there are objective indicators that can assist in determining whether an advancement is a gift or a loan (citations omitted) A gift is a transfer in which the absence of an expectation of repayment tends to be reflected in the absence of security, recording, payments or efforts to collect payments. A loan often involves a formal, recorded transfer in which terms are set out and in which repayment is made or sought. In evaluating whether the presumption of resulting trust has been rebutted, a trial judge will naturally look at such indicia.
This decision is useful as it outlines indica of a loan in a family law context. Those indicia of a loan noted in Barber, such as formal records setting out terms and demand for payment are lacking in the present matter.”