All About Estates

Month: July 2022

Total 15 Posts

Eighteen (18) – Capacity to Make a Will, but will you?

This blog has been co-written by Sandra Arsenault, Law Clerk at Fasken LLP and Kassandra Douglas, Durham College Law Clerk Co-op Student at Fasken LLP At 18 years of age, you are allowed to vote in Canada, and chances are, you have had exposure to politics growing up. You likely…

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Attorneys Gone Bad: Fraud and the Power of Attorney for Property

This Blog was written by: Alicia Mossington (Godin), Estate and Trust Consultant, Scotia Wealth Management “Fraud is the most frequently reported banking issue across all age groups.”[1] In 2021 more than 100,000 cases of fraud were reported by the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre with over $380 million dollars lost.[2] These numbers only…

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Update on MAiD: Mental Disorder as a Sole Underlying Medical Condition

In Canada, the law no longer restricts medical assistance in dying (MAiD) to people whose death is reasonably foreseeable: as of March 17, 2023, people with a mental disorder as a sole underlying medical condition (MD-SUMC) will be eligible for MAiD.

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Nova Scotia, Home to Many Older Canadians…..

My batteries are recharged!!! I enjoyed a wonderful week in Nova Scotia, appreciating the beautiful views from Cabot Cape Breton. Walking the Links with a local caddy I asked how older Nova Scotians typically fare and asked about residences and home care.  He shared that many locals have large families…

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Charitable Prizes

When Lindbergh flew from New York to Paris in 1927, it was inspired by the $25,000 Orteig Prize. Also in the 1920s, when the International Math Union wanted to honour under 40-year-old rising mathematicians, Toronto math superstar J.C. Fields (under)funded a medal that has been awarded ever since. Since the…

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Too Ill to Make a Will: three practical tips for surviving deathbed retainers

A Dead Give-Away Did you know that deathbed wills are the original will? In medieval Europe, for all but those in high society, will-making was synonymous with efforts right before death. Luckily, this type of estate planning is no longer the status quo. However, deathbed wills have persisted as a…

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Recharging my batteries

I am away recharging, relaxing and golfing.  I will resume blogging in a few weeks.

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Something to Do Before You Say “I Do” in 2022

Like the travel industry, the wedding industry is in full-steam for the summer of 2022.  Two years of blissful couples-to-be not being able to host their dream event have led to a flurry of weddings this summer season.  Besides the increased number of wedding invitations for the summer months, the…

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Where There’s a Will, There’s a Digital Way: Part #2

This blog was written by Ardena Bašić As previously written (in other words, go read blog-de-digital wills Part #1!), online, electronic and digital wills are rising in prominence. Yet, given that there are no Canadian laws to address how these assets should be handled after death, it is vital to…

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The Law of Assent

he recent case of Re Assaly deals with a unique intersection between estates and bankruptcy law and squarely addresses the law of assent. In this case, the estate trustee paid funds in trust to counsel for a bankrupt beneficiary and adult child of the deceased (the “Bankrupt”), on the condition…

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