All About Estates

Month: May 2018

Total 15 Posts

Intrinsic v. Extrinsic Giving

There is a fundraising truism that says you don’t get money unless you ask for it. But as estate planning professional know that’s not always true. A difference between lifetime gifts made directly to charity and estate donations is motivation. Often lifetime gifts are extrinsically motivated; estate donations are more…

Continue Reading

Medical Assistance in Dying (MAiD) and Undue Influence

In 2015, the Supreme Court of Canada held that the ban on Medical Assistance in Dying (MAiD) was unconstitutional (for a summary of the decision, click here). However, MAiD is not available to all persons; to qualify, a person requesting MAiD must have a grievous and irremediable medical condition including…

Continue Reading

Trust and (Mis)Communication in Families

There is a recurrent theme that I continue to see in my elder care work with families. It involves a breakdown in communication that has likely started sometime ago. As a result of this miscommunication, the trusting relationship that I would like to be believe originally existed there, has been…

Continue Reading

Allsorts of Potential Problems with Joint Bank Accounts

This blog was written by Ronald Neal, student-at-law at de VRIES LITIGATION LLP. What happens to the money in a joint bank account when one of the joint account owners passes away? Do the funds pass to the surviving joint owner outside of the estate, or do the funds form…

Continue Reading

The Cost of Winning, Sort of….

In my practice, I have been engaged on valuation matters which, on occasion despite the efforts of all those involved, go to trial to have a trial judge settle for the parties. Most trials are expensive and the actual outcome is not always certain, no matter how strong one side…

Continue Reading

M.R.R. v. J.M.: Judicial Consideration of Ontario’s New Parentage Rules

The new rules for determining parentage in Ontario, which were enacted by the All Families Are Equal Act (“AFAEA”), came into force on January 1, 2017. The new rules are set out in the new Part I of the Children’s Law Reform Act (“CLRA”), which replaced the former Parts I…

Continue Reading

An Intriguing Will Challenge

In Koster v. Koster, the Deceased’s nieces and nephews challenged his last will on the grounds of undue influence. There is nothing unusual about a will challenge in these circumstances, the Deceased was a very wealthy man who changed his will in the twilight years of his life. What was…

Continue Reading

Gift of securities by executors of a will (continued)

The Canada Revenue Agency provided its views regarding the income tax implications of a gift made by executors of an estate of a deceased individual.  The information that follows is based on a revised set of facts The taxpayer died in 2016.  His Will named his three sons as equal…

Continue Reading

Hey You Mother…..

A friend sent me this Mother’s Day greeting: “To the World You are a Mother. But to your Family You are the World!” I don’t know who wrote it, but I believe the sentiment. We all have had a mother and chances are this person shaped our lives more than…

Continue Reading

Real Property and Probate: Quick Tips and Traps

An estate planner’s clients typically express a desire to minimize taxes payable on death, including Estate Administration Tax (“probate fees”), which are payable on the value of the assets governed by a Will which is probated. For many clients, their home is their asset of most significant value. With the…

Continue Reading