This blog was written by Emily Rosen Having conversations with beneficiaries and being honest about your intentions will set expectations early on and minimize any surprises during an already difficult time. According to a study conducted by Nielson (2014), 46% of Canadians have not spoken to their family about their…
In McGrath v. Joy, 2020 ONSC 7454, the Court considered whether the contents of a suicide note could be admitted to probate as a holograph Will, and in particular, whether the deceased had the requisite testamentary capacity to make a Will prior to taking his own life. Facts Sadly, Joseph…
The Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) was asked to consider allowing more time to allow for the application of a common post-mortem planning rule in those situations where delays in the probate process have caused a delay in the timing of the disposition of the properties of an estate. The request concerns…
Evaluation of decision-making capacity is inherent to the practice of law and medicine and is not the exclusive responsibility or expertise of either. Lawyers may need to assess (among other things) capacity to instruct counsel; to provide evidence; to stand trial; to appoint or revoke Powers of Attorney; to make…
Introduction Last year, I wrote a blog post about estate planning for tattoo artists, which focused primarily on the intellectual property rights of tattoo artists in their tattoo designs and the ways in which such rights conflict with the rights of the people who actually bear such designs on their…
The charitable tax incentives for donations of certified Cultural Property – art and artifacts – is the richest in Canada. Cultural Property donations are exempt from capital gains tax and can be claimed against 100% of the donor’s net annual income over up to six years. The incentive is part…
The Dutch House, by Ann Patchett, is an excellent read. However, for those in the estate planning profession, it is also a reflection on what goes wrong when insufficient or no estate planning occurs.
Capital gain splitting on the sale of business interests, owned by family trusts with several beneficiaries, continues to be a valuable tool for tax planning purposes, including the opportunity under certain circumstances to access the super capital gains exemption more than once in such a transaction. However, the beneficiaries of…
There has been so much going on that you may not know that January is Alzheimers Awareness month. Covid has taken over as the lead medical concern world wide. However I feel it important to recognize another major health issue that impacts many of us – which is dementia. I…
Background – The Estate Freeze Transaction Fact Pattern In an estate freeze transaction involving one or more family corporations, certain common shares of such corporations are exchanged for fixed value preference shares that must be retractable and may be redeemable by the holder (“Preferred Shares”, as hereinafter further defined). The…