The latest chapter in the ongoing saga of the federal government’s reforms to the taxation of private companies was released on December 13, 2017. On that date, the Minister of Finance released the draft legislation and explanatory notes for the revised version of the “income sprinkling” or “TOSI” (tax on…
Month: December 2017
Total 13 Posts
The SDA and Incapacity to Manage Personal Care – Additional Commentary on Limitations in Legislation
Pursuant to Section 45 of the Substitute Decisions Act (SDA),[i] incapacity for personal care is defined as – A person is incapable of personal care if the person is not able to understand information that is relevant to making a decision concerning his or her own health care, nutrition, shelter,…
My previous blog ended with the following sentence: “Where a power of attorney for property is effective upon execution, proper safeguards should be put in place to ensure the power of attorney is not inappropriately acted upon”. This blog will expand on the meaning of that sentence. Where a power…
It is that time of year again… “the Most Wonderful Time of the Year” as that well-loved refrain goes. Lawyers and other professionals can get awfully serious about what they do when it comes to estate planning, litigation, and administration. So in an attempt to offer some levity in this…
A common estate planning technique is to structure a family trust which owns the shares of a small business corporation in such a way that allows each beneficiary (most commonly being members of the taxpayer’s immediate family – spouse and/or children) to participate in the sale or disposition of the…
Where has the time gone? Have you noticed that the older one gets the faster time is? I can’t believe we are almost at the end of 2017. Upon reflection, it has been a whirlwind year. Thankfully my family and I experienced good health. However I know this has not…
In today’s world of international families it is not uncommon for a Canadian family to have one or more members that are non-residents of Canada. When that same family has set up a Canadian discretionary family trust that is intended to benefit its members with, say distributions from a family…
I am sharing my good fortune in that I am proud to be a ‘puppy raiser’ for the Canadian National Institute for the Blind (CNIB).I am doing so in this blog because it relates directly to aging well and philanthropic opportunities. By way of background, CNIB is a national charitable…
In 2009, Hermine Wekerle, mother of financier and Dragon’s Den star, Michael Wekerle, signed an unconditional power of attorney for property giving one of her three daughters, Caron, authority to be her substitute decision-maker. In 2016, acting under the power of attorney for property, Caron agreed to sell a little…
The interconnectedness of registered charities and journalism is growing. In this era of digital content explosion and “fake news”, traditional media outlets — especially newspapers — are seeking new ways to serve their communities and survive. Increasingly, public benefit non-profit journalism is becoming a charitable activity. There are estate donors…