All About Estates

Katie Ionson

Total 32 Posts Website
Katie Ionson is an Associate at Fasken Wealth Management, Charities and Not-for-Profit Group. As part of her wealth management practice, Katie assists clients with Wills, powers of attorney, trusts, marriage and domestic contracts, and trust and estate administration. She has experience using estate planning to address a variety of client objectives, including income splitting arrangements, asset protection and business succession issues. Katie is engaged in a broad practice in the areas of charities and not-for-profit law, which includes preparing applications for charitable status, assisting clients with transitioning to the new federal or provincial not-for-profit legislation, drafting endowment and gift agreements and advising on administrative and tax-related issues. Email: kionson@fasken.com

More from the CRA on Survivor Payments from TFSAs

In my last post, I wrote about a recent Technical Interpretation from the CRA where the CRA was asked to consider whether a survivor payment could be made by an executor out of a deceased taxpayer’s TFSA (or, more specifically, former TFSA) to the deceased’s spouse in satisfaction of a…

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“Survivor Payment” from a TFSA to a Spouse who was not the Designated Beneficiary

In Technical Interpretation 2016-0679751E5 the CRA considered whether a survivor payment could be made out of deceased’s TFSA to the deceased’s spouse, in circumstances where the spouse was not the designated beneficiary of the TFSA. In this case, the executor wished to satisfy a legacy to the deceased’s spouse out…

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Caution Required: Gift by a Graduated Rate Estate of a Capital Interest in a Residual Trust

The CRA was recently asked to consider whether subsection 118.1(5.1) of the Income Tax Act would apply to a gift made to a qualified donee of a capital interest in a testamentary charitable residual trust. Subsection 118.1(5.1), if applicable to charitable gift, allows the tax credit in respect of the…

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Court of Appeal on Executor Removal in Cases of Conflicts of Interest

A recent case from the Ontario Court of Appeal (published in French) dealt with the principles to consider in evaluating an application to remove an executor due to a conflict of interest. The deceased in Talbot c. Bergeron, 2016 ONCA 956, had two children, a son and a daughter. The…

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Fresh From the Ontario Court of Appeal: A Curious Case of “Just” Enrichment

This month, the Ontario Court of Appeal released its decision in Moore v. Sweet, 2017 ONCA 182. The case discusses several issues, but its discussion of unjust enrichment carries the day. In particular, the decision hinges on whether an irrevocable beneficiary designation executed subsequent to an agreement to designate a…

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Testamentary Letter of Wishes- Part 2

In my last blog post of January 27, 2017, I discussed testamentary letters of wishes and some of the benefits and potential pitfalls of their use. For the purposes of the post, I limited the discussion to testamentary letters of wishes which are designed to convey a testator’s wishes and…

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Testamentary Letters of Wishes – Part 1

The disposition of a loved one’s personal and household items can be a source of disagreement and upset among family members during an already emotional time. There is much that the estate planner and his or her client can do to minimize any discord that might arise during this process….

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VERY MODERN FAMILY PROBLEMS FOR “MODERN FAMILY” ACTRESS – DO FROZEN EMBRYOS’ HAVE RIGHTS?

An interesting case has begun in the state of Louisiana involving “Modern Family” actress Sofia Vergara. For the past year, Ms. Vergara has been battling her former husband for custody of her fertilized eggs. The proceedings took a complicated turn this month when her husband filed an action on behalf of the embryos, arguing that the frozen embryos have a right to life. As the action suggests, the husband would like to take steps to unfreeze the embryos and bring them to term. In the proceedings, he argues on behalf of the embryos that keeping them frozen, which Ms. Vergara allegedly wishes to do, would be “tantamount to killing them”.

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Principal Residence Exemption and Trusts

In October, fellow blog-poster Corina Weigl wrote regarding the impact on individuals of recent changes to the rules surrounding the principal residence exemption. In addition to the changes impacting individuals, significant changes are proposed that will restrict the ability of trusts to claim the principal residence exemption residence for tax…

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Registered Disability Savings Plans – Don’t Overlook Them!

An incredibly useful and sometimes overlooked tool in planning for a client with a disabled loved one is the Registered Disability Savings Plan (“RDSP”). Here are a few key facts to know in discussing RDSPs with your client:[1] To qualify for an RDSP, the beneficiary must be eligible for the…

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