All About Estates

Month: January 2014

Total 20 Posts

A Wedding, a Will Signing, and A Witness

In Zerbinati v. Zerbinati 2013 CanLII 86428 (ON SC), the respondents to an application for the determination of the validity of the last will and testament of Valentino Mario Zerbinati (“Valentino”) brought a motion for “non-suit” on the grounds that the formal validity of Valentino’s Will had not been established….

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Word Choice in Will Drafting

It is a well-known drafting principle that when draftspersons are drafting Wills (and other legal documents), it is best to avoid: (i) using different words and phrases to describe the same thing; and (ii) using the same words and phrases to describe different things. Two cases illustrate the issues that…

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Investment Review 2013

This is my 4th annual year end investment review for Trusts. Last year at this time, I went out on a limb and quoted a Globe & Mail reporter who predicted that the equity investment returns for 2013 would be 6% plus or minus 29%. You will be happy to…

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What’s My Share?

Gail Evans died intestate on July 30, 1992.  She was survived by her two sons from a first marriage, Richard and Donald, and by her second husband, Carlton.  Carlton was the administrator (i.e. estate trustee) of Gail’s estate.  The parties agreed Carlton was entitled to a preferential share of $75,000…

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Brent Kern Summary

Today’s blog was written by Katie Ionson. The Tax Court of Canada’s decision in Brent Kern Family Trust v. R was released on October 17, 2013. Brent Kern is the first reported case to apply the watershed decision of the Federal Court of Appeal (the “FCA”) in R. v. Sommerer,…

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