All About Estates

Month: March 2019

Total 18 Posts

When is a Gift not a Gift?

Styres v. Martin 2018 ONCA 956 is a case of a gift that unfolded a saga (not over yet and far from it) of diminished capacity, alleged breach of trust, breach of fiduciary duty, unjust enrichment, undue influence to name a few. Mr. Styres lived in a house he built…

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Appreciating Japanese Differences and Similarities

I  have recently returned from a fantastic trip to Asia- which had been on my bucket list.  The trip started in Japan and it was a perfect launching point to see how aging matters and learn about some of the differences and similarities in our cultures. People live longer in…

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When Probate becomes an International Affair

Co-written by Jennifer Campbell, estate clerk at Fasken Recently, we have dealt with a number of “international” estates, where (i) probate has been issued in a foreign jurisdiction, (ii) an executor is resident of another country, or (iii) a Canadian deceased held property outside of Canada. These matters have caused…

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Status Indians: From an Estate Planner’s Perspective

This blog was written by Andrew Ashenhurst, TEP – Associate Estate and Trust Consultant with Scotia Wealth Management   A close friend of mine is actively involved in the Aboriginal space from both an economic and social development perspective. In his work he has often reached out to me with…

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Some Suggestions on Evaluating Undue Influence in the Court of Public Opinion

In recent weeks, Canadian politics has been rocked by the so-called “SNC-Lavalin Scandal.” One of the allegations has been whether former Attorney General Jody Wilson-Raybould was pressured or unduly influenced by the Prime Minister’s Office to resolve the corruption and fraud case against SNC-Lavalin in an effort to spare the…

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Fraudulent investment—recourse options

In an earlier post I provided general reporting information that applies to taxpayers who participated in what reasonably appeared to be a legitimate investment for income tax purposes and turned out to be a fraudulent investment scheme.  The economic losses in these situations can be devastating when compounded by the…

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What is super about this new super agency?

The news flash is that our healthcare system is about to be revamped.  It was announced that six agencies including Cancer Care Ontario, ehealth Ontario, Trillium Gift of Life Network, Health Shared Services, Health Quality Ontario and Healthforce Ontario Marketing and Recruitment Agency will be consolidated under a new umbrella…

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Golden Girls Act, 2019 – Will the Path to Cohabitation Soon be Paved in Gold?

Today’s blog is co-written with Jennifer Campbell, a law clerk in the Private Client Services group of Fasken LLP. Recently Durham MPP Lindsey Park tabled a private member’s bill (Bill 69), which looks to amend Ontario’s Planning Act to prevent municipalities from using local bylaws to prohibit seniors from cohabitating….

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