Registered Education Savings Plans (RESPs) are tax-deferred education savings vehicles designed to assist parents (or other family members and friends) to save towards a beneficiary’s post-secondary education. A contract is entered into between a subscriber (i.e., parents) and a promoter (i.e., bank or trust company), whereby the subscriber contributes funds…
This blog is brought to you by Fatima Husnain, Student-at-Law, at Fasken With the end of the year approaching, it is now a good time to ensure that your affairs are in order. We know this is a busy time of the year, but these few items can help protect…
Lawyers in Ontario are regulated by the Law Society of Ontario, and the Rules of Professional Conduct set out the professional and ethical obligations to which lawyers must adhere. One of the duties relates to avoiding conflicts of interest, except in certain circumstances. Rule 3.4-5 of the Law Society of Ontario Rules of Professional Conduct sets out the rule for joint retainers and provides as follows
Discretionary trusts are a tool used in estate planning to create a flexible trust that provides trustees the discretion to decide who receives the income or capital from the trust and when. The trustees must choose from the class of beneficiaries that are named in the trust, however, none of the beneficiaries have an automatic right to receive proceeds from the trust. There are many benefits to this type of trust and some drawbacks that can be overcome through proper estate planning.
Jeffrey Epstein (“Epstein”) signed a will just 2 days before he was found dead in his jail cell, raising new queries about his final days inside the Manhattan Correctional Centre, where he was awaiting trial on federal sex trafficking and conspiracy charges. This new development adds to what is likely…
Neuroimaging and Dementia
Technology has increasingly allowed us to peek into the brain, and medical professionals, scientists, lawyers, and laypeople increasingly form opinions of what these images tell us. When it comes to understanding the human mind, humans are more likely to trust brain imaging data as more authoritative and credible than behavioural data.
You may recall I wrote a blog post last year on the Supreme Court of British Columbia decision, Quinn Estate, 2018 BCSC 365, which rendered the “pour over” clause in the late Pat Quinn’s (“Pat”) Will invalid. The basis for this decision was twofold:
A charitable remainder trust is an underutilized philanthropic tool where a charity is given a future monetary benefit, while the donor receives immediate tax relief in respect of the charitable contribution. Typically, a donor irrevocably contributes property to a trust for the lifetime of a beneficiary, with a charity being…
Today’s blog comes to you from Student-at-Law, Demetre Vasilounis. In 2013, the Government of India’s Ministry of Environment and Forests ignited a discussion in the international legal community by deciding to prohibit dolphinariums as well as any enterprise that involves the import or capture of cetacean species (dolphins, whales, porpoises) for the…
Romance scams are among the top reported scams based on total dollar loss, and seniors are particularly susceptible to these types of scams. Unfortunately, the late Robert Hogg fell victim to a romance scam, which was not discovered until after his death. The facts can be found in the CBC…