All About Estates

Month: September 2022

Total 16 Posts

Easing the Burden of Losing a Parent

Hello fellow All About Estates Blog Readers – this is not necessarily going to be an overly long, or overly substantive blog.  Rather, the purpose of this blog is to encourage our blog-readers to take fifteen minutes out of their undoubtedly busy days to read the article by Globe and…

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“Death and Taxes”

This Blog was written by: Kristie Smith, Estate and Trust Consultant, Scotia Wealth Management  As we have all heard many times in the estate planning community, and as Benjamin Franklin famously remarked, nothing is certain but death and taxes. From the Covid era and then ‘back to normal’; from Elizabeth…

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Don’t Trust a Stranger

This blog was written by Christopher Cook, student-at-law The law recognizes three ways in which a stranger to the trust (i.e., someone who is not an appointed trustee) may be liable for breach of trust. First, one may be liable as a “trustee de son tort.” This is the case…

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Principal residence – deceased vs. estate

The over-heating of the housing market that started in 2021 is starting to slowly cool off as a result of rising interest rates. This cooling of the over-heated housing market has given rise to a potential scenario that was originally addressed by the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) in a technical…

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Another year and another fresh start: 5783

As is the custom, the start of Jewish New Year was last evening at sunset.  For some, it is a fresh start and a time for reflection.  For those who may not attend synagogue, it may still be recognized and celebrated with family sitting down together for a festive dinner….

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The Procrastinating Client and the Impact on Estates

Procrastinator – a person who habitually puts off doing things.  Intestate – dying before making a will. These two words in an estate context can make the administration of an estate a nightmare. No one likes to think about death and planning for their death.  However, death is inevitable and,…

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Illiquid Assets and Estate Donations

Tax relief for an estate donation cannot be claimed until the property is transferred to a charity.  No tax receipt; no tax credits.  If the distribution is after 60 months after death of the donor there is no tax receipt at all.  But what if the estate has illiquid assets…

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You’re not my mother!

A child’s relationship with their parents is complicated. If a child is in extended society care, previously known as being a Crown ward, that’s probably an understatement. But what happens in the unfortunate situation that a child under society care passes away? Nobody likes to contemplate the death of a…

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Goodbye Queen Elizabeth II

As I sat down to write my Monday blog, which was going to be on Bill 7, ( the ridiculous plan to have alternate level of care [ALC] patients transferred out of the hospital to anyplace, anywhere or pay $400 daily) instead, I decided to pay tribute to the late…

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Digital Assets: Spotlighting Client User Considerations (Part II)

Today’s blog post was written in collaboration with Adele Ambrose – Student-at-Law at Fasken. This is the second part in a two-part blog series that explores the specific client considerations for digital assets in estate planning. In Part I, we took a look at the digital assets landscape in Canada…

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