All About Estates

Darren Lund

Total 48 Posts Website
Darren Lund is a member of the Trust, Wills, Estates and Charities at Fasken, Toronto office. Darren has expertise in a broad range of estate planning matters, including multiple wills, inter vivos trusts, disability planning, estate freezing, and planning for beneficiaries and assets outside Canada. Darren advises trustees and beneficiaries on all aspects of estate administration, both contentious and non-contentious, and his experience includes passing of fiduciary accounts, trust variations, post-mortem tax planning, and administering the Canadian estates of non-residents. He also speaks and writes on a variety of related topics such as estate planning for spouses and couples, inheriting overseas property and estate planning for persons with disabilities. He previously practised estates law at a large national law firm. Email: dlund@fasken.com

The New Surrogacy Rules in the Children’s Law Reform Act

The new parentage rules in the All Families Are Equal Act (Parentage and Related Registrations Statute Law Amendment), 2016, S.O. 2016, c. 23 (“Act”), include rules for determining parentage where surrogacy is used. The surrogacy rules became effective on January 1, 2017 and are largely set out in sections 10…

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The New Parentage Rules in the Children’s Law Reform Act

Continuing my discussion of the All Families Are Equal Act (Parentage and Related Registrations Statute Law Amendment), 2016, S.O. 2016, c. 23, in this blog I will look at the new rules for determining the relationship of parent and child in Part I of the Children’s Law Reform Act (“CLRA”),…

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Government Addresses an Unintended Consequence of the All Families Are Equal Act

As I noted in my last blog, the All Families Are Equal Act (Parentage and Related Registrations Statute Law Amendment), 2016, S.O. 2016, c. 23 (the “Act”), introduced new rules for determining parentage in Ontario, primarily through substantial amendments to the Children’s Law Reform Act (“CLRA”) and the Vital Statistics…

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The New World of Posthumous Conception

The All Families Are Equal Act (Parentage and Related Registrations Statute Law Amendment), 2016, S.O. 2016, c. 23 (the “Act”), received Royal Assent on December 5, 2016, and the provisions of the Act discussed in this blog came into force on January 1, 2017. The Act introduces a new regime…

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The New Principal Residence Rules and the QDT

I have previously blogged about the “qualified disability trust” or “QDT” that was introduced in 2016 as part of a package of reforms to the taxation of testamentary trusts. The QDT, along with the graduated rate estate, is one of two exceptions to the general rule that, as of January…

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Multiple Wills: Part 4

In my last blog on multiple wills for probate planning I began a discussion of some considerations when defining the classes of assets that fall into the “non-probate” will (which I refer to as the “Secondary Will”) and the “probate” will (which I refer to as the “Primary Will”). I…

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MULTIPLE WILLS: PART 3

In this installment of my blogs on multiple wills (for probate planning) I will focus on the important issue of defining the assets that will be governed by the Primary and Secondary Wills. As in my prior blogs, I will use the term “Primary Will” to refer to the will that is intended to be probated and “Secondary Will” to refer to the will that is not intended to be probated.

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MULTIPLE WILLS: PART 2

In my first blog on multiple wills, I briefly discussed the rationale for using multiple wills as a tool for managing estate administration tax and then turned to drafting considerations, specifically the introductory clause and the revocation clause. In this blog I will focus on provisions where there is potential for an unintended double payment.

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NEW TAX MEASURES RELATED TO DISABILITY PLANNING

In my last blog I began a discussion of multiple wills. I will continue that discussion in my next blog. For today’s blog, I will focus on two recently-announced tax measures that relate to planning for persons with disabilities. The measures were included in the legislative proposals relating to the Income Tax Act (“ITA”) released on September 16, 2016.

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MULTIPLE WILLS: PART 1

The use of multiple wills for probate planning purposes has been part of the estate planning toolbox in Ontario for many years. The basic concept is straightforward. A separate will is prepared that governs those assets of the deceased for which the executors should not, based on current law and…

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