All About Estates

Category: Trustee

Total 122 Posts

New Year, New Will – and Other Important Moments to Revisit Planning

Happy 2024  everyone! The start of a new year is often the impetus for individuals to revisit their estate plan.[1]  While this is a worthwhile exercise, it’s important to remember that there are several other key moments that may occur at any point during a given year that should give…

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Non-Resident and Rental Income – Not so Fast.

When a non-resident of Canada generates rental income from a Canadian rental property, the tenant (or agent for the non-resident) must withhold 25% of the gross rental payment (unless a tax treaty reduces the withholding rate) and remit it to the Canada Revenue Agency by the prescribed date. It’s important…

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Trustees Holding Title to Real Property: It Used to be Simpler

Trustees holding title to real property jointly with right of survivorship should make estate succession efficient and inexpensive. But recent changes implemented by the Director of Land Titles are challenging that notion.

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Non-Resident Beneficiary and Part XIII Withholding Tax – Trustee Beware

When trustees distribute income of a trust to a non-resident beneficiary, they must be mindful of potential Canadian tax implications. Part XIII tax is a tax withheld at source when income is paid to a non-resident. For Canadian trust and estate purposes, Part XIII requires a non-resident beneficiary to pay…

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Trustees – it’s time to start gathering information

With 6 weeks until the end of 2023, it is a good time to remind trustees of their obligations in respect of the trusts that they are responsible for managing and administering. Last year, I wrote a blog where I reminded trustees of discretionary trusts of the importance of documenting…

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What Happens if Something Happens to your Executor? – Part Two

It is very difficult to plan for every possible scenario when you are drafting your will. Not only is it important to consider who to name as your executor, but you also need to think about what would happen if something happened to your executor. In an earlier blog, I…

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Declaratory Relief – Not Always Available

Declaratory Relief Defined It is well understood that a court can order a party to do something or order a party to refrain from doing something. Another power of the court is its ability to make declarations. The Court of Appeal for Ontario defined a declaratory judgment in Bryton Capital…

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Reviving a revoked will

It is quite common for a will to begin with a statement that all previous wills and codicils are revoked. This is done to ensure that only the will being executed at that time remains the valid will of the testator, and any prior testamentary instruments no longer desired will…

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The Cy-Près Doctrine: When Good Intentions Count For Something

The cy-près doctrine It is common practice to leave a gift to a charity in your will. However, the charity that the testator wished to support may not have been named properly in the will (leading to confusion about who was supposed to benefit from the funds), or may have…

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Trust and estates beware of the new Underused Housing Tax

The recently enacted Underused Housing Tax Act[i] (UHTA) applies a one per cent tax on the ownership of vacant or underused housing in Canada. Per the Canada Revenue Agency’s (CRA) published notification[ii] on Jan 17, 2023, “the vast majority of Canadian owners of residential property are excluded owners and, therefore,…

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