I recently had the pleasure of listening to Dr. Danielle Martin address health care system challenges faced by Canadians daily. In her book Better Now Dr. Martin explores ways to make Canadian health care better. Dr. Martin is a family doctor and practices in the Family Practice Health Centre at…
An administration bond is a promise to the court, with a surety, that the executor of an estate will be honest in performing his/her duties in the administration of the estate and in distributing the property of the estate to the beneficiaries. It protects the beneficiaries and creditors of the…
This Blog was written by: Natalie Rouse Last week I wrote about some basic matters to consider when appointing someone as a child’s guardian. The person named as a guardian in a will must have that appointment confirmed in court. Courts are more likely to accept the appointment of a…
A recent case of the Ontario Superior Court (Silva et. al v. Silva (Estate of)) demonstrates the wide remedies available to beneficiaries whose interests have been prejudiced by the misconduct of an estate trustee. Jose Lima Silva died without a will on June 24, 2015. He was survived by 5…
The Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) was asked to comment on the implications of a transfer of property from a discretionary trust (Old Trust) to a Canadian corporation wholly owned by a new discretionary trust (New Trust). The 21-year deemed disposition rule provides that every 21 years in a family trust’s…
Good mental health is important. A few weeks ago was Bell Canada’s ‘Let’s Talk Day’ which was about raising awareness and money for mental health improvement. This year, Bell Canada had 131,705,010 interactions from people like you and me either tweeting, calling, posting on Instagram, viewing a Facebook video or…
In my last blog on multiple wills for probate planning I began a discussion of some considerations when defining the classes of assets that fall into the “non-probate” will (which I refer to as the “Secondary Will”) and the “probate” will (which I refer to as the “Primary Will”). I…
This Blog was written by : Natalie Rouse The 2017 Oscars are just around the corner and last year’s drama “Manchester By the Sea”, starring Casey Affleck and Michelle Williams, is sitting pretty. It has been nominated for a whopping 6 awards. It also recently won the Golden Globe…
In my ALLABOUTESTATES blogs, I have been writing about unanticipated consequences of appointing a power of attorney (POA) for property as per the Ontario Substitute Decisions Act[i] (SDA). Despite the apparent benefits for seniors to have a POA for property, nonetheless unanticipated problems include; Mistaken assumptions by both grantors and…