All About Estates

Month: October 2023

Total 15 Posts

Important Conversations

Good morning,  as readers may know I consult directly to Financial Institutions, advisors and their clients as well as providing direct ‘Wellness Consultations’ with older adults and their families. I was recently interviewed in Matters BeyondWealth, by Leanne Kaufman CEO of Royal Trust. A great podcast series that I encourage…

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Production motions: the bar is higher than you think

A recently released decision, Giann v Giannopoulos, 2023 ONSC 5412, provides clarity on a question that frequently arises in estate litigation: what information is a party entitled to from the deceased’s personal records and documents? This case, heard by Justice Myers of the estate list in mid-September this year was…

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Capacity Evaluation: the Role of Corroborative Information

In clinical geriatric psychiatry, it is an accepted standard of care to obtain corroborative information when conducting clinical evaluations.However, medical-legal tasks of capacity evaluation, such as for the evaluation of capacity to instruct counsel, testamentary capacity and possibly even capacity to appoint powers of attorney, may require strict confidentiality which prevents obtaining corroborative information from informants. As a result, obtaining corroborative information for capacity evaluation in this context is more complex than in clinical care.

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Aging in Place: Who Coordinates the Coordinators in Complex Care Situations?

As our population ages, more people are faced with caring for an elderly family member who wishes to remain at home despite their complex health and personal care needs. A few years ago, I wrote an article about the proliferation of healthcare coordinators, navigators, and community care coordinators trying to…

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Exercise Caution: Different Countries – Different Tax Regimes at Death

This blog has been written by Rahul Sharma, Partner at Fasken LLP A couple of recent telephone calls reminded me of the perils of estate and tax planning that crosses borders without proper planning. The first case is regrettably quite common.  An entrepreneur in the technology sector (we will call…

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The Cost of Costs

The matter of the payment of a party’s legal fees at the end of a hard fought court battle can hold up or impact upon settlement. Indeed, oftentimes, the issue of the costs of litigation becomes a subject in and of itself to be argued over in court. Generally, the…

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