When everybody knows your name but very few know you. I read an obit that appeared as an announcement in a sports blog from markhebscher who read about it from Scott@randomjaysstuff. The announcement read ‘Toronto’s Witness to Sports History is Dead’. Oddly enough I knew Ralph, or should I say…
As a common law jurisdiction with our roots in the United Kingdom it is understandable we have an interest in what happens “across the pond”. The UK has recently updated their inheritance laws and made large changes to their intestacy laws. Normally we look to the UK for changes but…
Last week I stopped by Walter Beauchamp Tailors to purchase a new tie (I was attracted by the “clearance sale” sign in the window). As fortune would have it the owner, Terry Beauchamp, was the person who helped me out. I asked Terry if the store was closing. Terry, who…
My colleague, Diane Vieira, recently blogged about the Divisional Court’s decision in Quinn v. Carrigan. While she highlighted what the case had to say about the proper approach to determining dependant’s support, the case is also instructive on who should bear the costs of a dependant support application. Prior to…
Do you ever wonder why things are the way they are? Someone does and that someone recently asked the Canada Revenue Agency why inheritances are not taxable. Although the questioner was told by his or her accountants that inheritances are not taxable in Canada, they asked the Canada Revenue Agency…
In my last blog, Who Knew There is a Benefit to Having Two Spouses, I spoke of the ability to benefit from a rollover for income tax purposes in respect of property that passes to two different individuals, each of whom qualifies as the spouse or common-law partner of the…
“For most people in the developed world, conversations about such topics (as death) never take place. Young people remark in passing that they would rather be dead than go into a nursing home; that they do not want to die in hospital; that they do not want a drawn-out, agonising…
Among other medico-legal concepts, the ‘lucid interval’ is a long held concept widely accepted in case law as a possible means of countering a challenge to testamentary and related capacities. In parallel, the clinical phenomenon of cognitive fluctuation has been considered a common element of several neurodegenerative disorders (dementias) including…
Directly designating a charity as the beneficiary of a registered retirement savings plan (RRSP) or registered retirement income fund (RRIF) has a number of advantages, but also a risk. A direct designation gift is arranged by naming one or more charities on the RRSP/RRIF plan documents. After the death of…
The background in Quinn vs Carrigan is well known to estate and family law litigators as the parties have been involved in extensive litigation, including two trials and two appeals. The first trial and its subsequent appeal, which focused on the issue of who is a “spouse” pursuant to the…
