All About Estates

Month: August 2017

Total 16 Posts

A Good Life & A Good Death

A long time client of ours passed away last week.  She was able to remain at her own home and die in her own bed.  So many of us wish, when the time comes, that we could do the same.  We know this is not the ending place that most…

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Advertising for Creditors Just Became Easier in Ontario…Officially!

Last year, a fellow blogger and colleague blogged about “NoticeConnect”, a service to advertise for creditors, which has been thought to be sufficient protection for estate trustees in Ontario. Last month, the Ontario Superior Court of Justice in the Mills v Dale judgment approved this service as an appropriate method…

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Fair Tax Plan is Not Fair

When I was a child I would get together with kids in the neighborhood and we would play games like racing toy cars. Someone would call out the rules and the games would go for hours to the delight of our parents. On occasion one of the kids would do…

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Pre-Conception Parentage Agreements

Over my past several blogs I have looked at the new rules for determining parentage introduced in the All Families Are Equal Act (Parentage and Related Registrations Statute Law Amendment), 2016, S.O. 2016, c. 23 (“Act”), since it is important for estate planners to understand and appreciate the variety of…

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How to Donate Art

  I get a lot of inquiries from clients with art or collectibles that they want to donate – sometimes during life and sometimes as part of an estate plan.  These long-term collectors often believe a public gallery, museum or educational institution is the best “one stop” destination for their…

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For Whom the Bells Toll: It Tolls for Family Trusts?

As we continue to absorb the draft legislation (together with explanatory notes and consultation paper) introduced by the Department of Finance to overhaul the system of taxation for private companies, some things have are becoming clear. If essentially enacted as currently drafted, the legislation will likely spell the end of…

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