Court grants permission for presumed homicide victim’s son to manage father’s affairs

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This article was published 30/07/2019 (1975 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The family of Eduardo Balaquit — the local husband and father of two who went missing last summer — was granted permission to manage his assets by a Winnipeg court Wednesday.

Erwin Balaquit, Eduardo’s son, has been designated as the family member responsible for managing his missing father’s affairs under The Presumption of Death and Declaration of Absence Act.

“This court order now grants Eddie’s son, Erwin, the power to continue to take care of Eddie’s affairs during his absence,” said Kara Bjornson, the Balaquit family’s legal representative.

“He will have to file an accounting with the court sometime in the next six months, providing the court with the assets he is managing on behalf of Eddie, but for all intents and purposes, the order is in place and he can take care of Eddie’s affairs until Eddie is found.”

The new act came into effect in Manitoba on June 3, one day before the first anniversary of Balaquit’s disappearance. Under the previous legislation, families had to have their loved ones declared legally dead in order to take control of their assets.

Balaquit disappeared in the evening on June 4, 2018, near the 300 block of Keewatin Street. The following day, his vehicle was found abandoned in a nearby parking lot with the front passenger window smashed out and his cellphone and personal belongings left inside.

Police later conducted an extensive ground search —including the use of dogs — in and around the community of Arborg, roughly 115 kilometres north of Winnipeg.

On the one-year anniversary of his disappearance, police said they were searching for a blue Ford Escape SE that investigators consider to be of interest in the case. The vehicle in question is believed to be a 2010 to 2015 model.

Police have previously said Balaquit was “very likely” a homicide victim.

ryan.thorpe@freepress.mb.ca