All About Estates

Month: July 2020

Total 23 Posts

A Presumptive Peril: The Law of Beneficiary Designations is Now in Flux

Calmusky v. Calmusky, 2020 ONSC 1506, is a 2020 decision of the Ontario Superior Court of Justice that is ruffling some feathers among banks, financial advisors and estate planning lawyers in Ontario. In this case, the court applied the principles surrounding the presumption of resulting trust, established by the Supreme Court…

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Constructive Trust and Proprietary Estoppel – Built With Your Own Hands

Families often fall into patterns and routines; they are comfortable, stable, and predictable. They can also give rise to legal rights over land. The extent and enforceability of those rights will be put to the test following death or divorce. Such was the case in Tomek v Zabukovec, 2020 ONSC…

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WHAT ABOUT A CORPORATE EXECUTOR?

A lot has been written about how should choose an executor, and some of it in this blog place. A couple of years ago, fellow boggler Emily Hubling wrote eloquently about the risk and rewards of appointing a professional advisor as executor. I would like to revisit some of the…

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Foreign reporting and the foreign pension plan

The Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) was asked whether a Canadian-resident individual is required to file Form T1135 (Foreign Income Verification Statement) in respect of their interest in a US pension plan.  The foreign property reporting rules are in section 233.3 of the Income Tax Act (ITA). Generally, these rules require…

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Family = >Essential Visitors

This weekend I enjoyed  a wonderful homemade dinner at the home of some close friends  and it felt ‘normal’ – a life we enjoyed and took for granted before Covid. I am fortunate in so many ways and one was not living with the angst  of not being able to…

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How to Provide for Your Island in Animal Crossing: New Horizons After Your Death: Part III

This is a three-part blog series that seeks to explore the manner in which one can conduct estate planning with respect to their copy of the popular 2020 Nintendo Switch video game Animal Crossing: New Horizons. Part I discussed the importance of this topic and described the applicability of a…

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Road Testing your Incapacity Plan

This Blog was written by Suzanna Walter, Estate and Trust Consultant with Scotia Wealth Management In Ontario, there is a massive backlog of appointments for driving tests due to the shutdown of DriveTest Centres.  This led me to quickly check the expiry date of my own Driver’s License, which quickly…

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Estate Trustee Removed for Conflict of Interest

A recent New Brunswick case provides a thoughtful analysis on the removal of estate trustees (referred to as Estate Administrators in New Brunswick). In his will, the testator had named his sister as his estate trustee.  The beneficiaries of his estate were his two children and his brother, Yves.  However,…

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BARE TRUSTS

A bare trust, also referred to as a naked trust, exists where a person, the trustee, is merely vested with the legal title to property and has no other duty to perform or responsibilities to carry out as trustee, in relation to the property vested in the trust. The sole…

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Orphanos, Yathom = Losing Your Guide

There are so many stories that I would like to share as I continue on this journey of losing a last parent.  This is actually quite a different experience than losing my father.  I have always said that relationships are complicated and certainly one’s relationship with a parent is even…

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