All About Estates

Month: October 2015

Total 20 Posts

LIFE … Death & Taxes

Today’s blog is written by guest blogger Katherine Downey. Katherine is a professional educator and licensed funeral director specializing in prepaid funeral planning. She can be reached at (905) 717-9197 or at (905) 399-5341. Email: katdowney@legacymatters.ca. Website: www.legacymatters.ca You have died. Over the next few days what will that look…

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Financial Literacy & Protecting Seniors

Many financial institutions are training staff to detect and report financially abusive situations. Should legislative changes be introduced to bolster financial literacy and/or protect consumers from financial abuse?

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Insurance Policies, Separation Agreements, and Death

The process of separating from one’s spouse is never easy. Beyond the emotional toll, assets must be divided and it may be necessary to make plans for ongoing spousal and child support. Even after a settlement has been reached, death can derail the best laid plans. Such was the case…

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Infant Beneficiary of a Family Trust and the Capital Gains Exemption

Pursuant to the Income Tax Act, to be eligible for the capital gains exemption, the qualified small business corporation share definition includes a requirement that it be held by the taxpayer, or a party related to the taxpayer “throughout the 24 months” preceding sale. Under the circumstances, can an 18th…

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QUALIFIED DISABILITY TRUSTS

Cooler weather, shorter days, leaves changing colours and, at long last, the Blue Jays playing in the playoffs, are sure signs that Autumn is here and Winter is just around the corner. For estates practitioners in 2015, these are also signs that January 1, 2016 — the effective date for changes to the taxation of testamentary trusts first introduced in Budget 2014 — is also just around the corner.

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A new take on the ‘granny suite’

With the sky high price of housing in many provinces, families may be looking for residential alternatives. Shipping containers coming to your city soon.

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National Senior’s Day

October 1 was National Senior’s Day.  This national day was created (by statute called the Celebrating Canada’s Seniors Act, S.C. 2010) to acknowledge the contribution of seniors to Canadian society and to the Canadian economy which this contribution being identified by the sharing of their experiences, expertise and knowledge with…

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Unpacking the Past

As regular readers of this blog – along with anyone whose profession touches upon any aspect of estate planning and/or administration – know, the discipline is equal parts art and science. Given the credentials of, and work performed by, most contributors to this blog, the technical aspects receive the lion’s share…

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POA versus Executor Compensation

On Tuesday, September 29, I spoke at an OBA program entitled “The Family Business: Administration and Litigation of Trusts and Estates Holding Business Assets.” At the end of the program, there was an interesting discussion about the distinction between compensation for estate trustees and compensation for POAs or guardians of…

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Principal residence and Co-Ownership

The Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) was asked to comment on several scenarios involving the sale and deemed sale of a property co-owned by a couple.

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