I love the traditions of the American Thanksgiving Day holiday – spending time with family and friends, enjoying a great food and watching football. In the lead-up to Thanksgiving, the American papers are filled with all kinds of tips on how to prepare for and enjoy the big day. Whether…
This Blog was written by: Carol Willes Recently I co-presented to fellow estate professionals about practical challenges that might ambush an executor or attorney for property when encountering digital and other unique assets in an estate. We uncovered some fascinating and disturbing issues that can present themselves for the unfortunate…
This Blog was written by: Sally Lee, J.D. In an old New York Times article, I read about Jackie Kennedy Onnasis’ personal effects being initially valued at $6 million and later sold at auction for $34.5 million. The IRS, no doubt, went after its share. When I meet clients for…
This Blog was written by: Liz Bozek As you have undoubtedly heard, Tom Petty died on October 2nd after suffering a massive heart attack. He was rushed to hospital and placed on life support but, after doctors discovered no signs of brain activity, the decision was made to remove life…
This Blog was written by Carol Willes, One of our family’s favourite pastimes at the cottage is to build a roaring campfire and spend the evenings telling stories, singing along to guitar tunes and roasting the occasional marshmallow. Every so often, however, some unwelcome visitors show up and crash our…
This Blog was written by: Natalie Rouse As some of you may have read in recent celebrity news such as the UK Mirror, the daughter of Michael Hutchence (a founding member and lead singer of rock band INXS) and Paula Yates (television personality), Heavenly Hiraani Tiger Lily (“Tiger”), is currently…
Earlier this week I attended the 19th annual National Conference of the Society of Trust & Estate Practitioners (“STEP”). I must congratulate Michael Dodick, Janis Armstrong and their whole team for putting on another very successful conference. The success of the conference is easily measurable, there were 720 attendees, making…
RBC recently released their Wealth Transfer Report 2017. Some of results confirm what we have read for years about the percentage of people who have proper Wealth Transfer Plans in place. What caught my eye, were the survey results about the inheritor experience and educating the next generation. By way…
This Blog was written by: Natalie Rouse Most of us are familiar with the 1998 decision of Granovsky Estate v Ontario. The case has been the leading authority to permit planning with multiple Wills in Ontario. The use of multiple Wills is now an integral part of the estate planning…
This Blog was written by: Robert Boyd We have all read articles detailing how people have stash millions of dollars under their mattress or, executors discover vast quantities of gold discovered at the home of a recently deceased individual. From an estate planning perspective, this may come as a huge…