death

Dust Off The Shareholders’ Agreement

It is common to suggest shareholders enter into a shareholders’ agreement, where each shareholder assumes certain rights and obligations relating to the business of the corporation. The shareholders’ agreement typically includes provisions dealing with the management of the business and future transfers of shares upon death or other circumstances. Unfortunately, once the shareholders’ agreement is signed, it is often filed in the corporate minute book and never reviewed by the signatories. There….

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Business Succession Planning, Contracts, Estate Planning, Succession Planning

The Foreign Corporation on Death – Where Do We Start?

A hand holds a red puzzle piece over grey pieces on a table.

When an entrepreneur dies owning shares or an interest in a foreign corporation, the executor is faced with a challenging situation.  An estate with ownership or an interest in a foreign corporation raises specific and complex tax rules that leave the executor and family members hoping the deceased has a well-organized tax and estate plan in place. Where to start? The executor needs to be proactive. First, it needs to….

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Estate Administration, Estate Planning, Executors, International, Tax Issues

Gamers are Letting off Some “Steam” After Learning that Purchased Games are Not Transferrable on Death

Pictured: A screenshot of a discussion between a Steam user and a Steam Support representative that has taken the internet by storm. Usually, I get my trusts and estates-related news from legal blogs, LinkedIn or emails from colleagues. So, you can imagine my surprise when I stumbled upon a pretty big story in the world of trusts and estates as I was scrolling through the front page of Reddit. For….

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Contracts, Estate Administration, Estate Planning, In the News, Property, Succession Planning, Wills

Dearly Departed…or not?

A recent Toronto Star article[1] highlighted what has become a bit of an interesting viral trend in the modern internet era: “scorched earth” obituaries, written by one or more of a deceased person’s relatives, who do not have anything nice to say in their send-off of the departed. The article provides a few highlights from recent examples, including an obituary prepared by a deceased woman’s children that said “they understand that….

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Estate Administration, Estate Planning, Family Conflict

And who shall I say is calling?

Reposted:  Most of us avoid talking about death, but in reality many of us think about it regularly. None of us know what the future brings but death is a certainty. We just don’t know when and how. The Jewish New Year (Rosh Hashanah) was recently celebrated, closely followed by the 10 days of Awe leading to Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, which  is today.  It is the time….

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Elder Care

Digital Assets: How Advisors are Changing the World

While I enjoy writing about the legal aspects of digital assets in estate planning and administration, I don’t think that I have spent enough time focusing on the work of the wonderful advisors in this space: technology consultants, lawyers and policy analysts among them. The efforts of these advisors have helped shape the law, internationally, in an area where legal guidance has desperately been needed. As time goes on, I….

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Estate Administration, Estate Planning, International
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