In Ntakos Estate v. The Queen, 2018 TCC 224, a family business was owned by the deceased taxpayer, Anna (after her husband passed away in 1995) with two brothers-in-law through a holding corporation. Anna’s mental and physical health declined from 1995 until her death in 2004. She was diagnosed in…
Category: Estate Administration
Total 210 Posts
Estates tell a million stories and the case of Ford v Mazman, 2019 ONSC 542, is just one of them. Mary died on April 3, 2017. Mary’s 2004 Will named her two nieces, Laura and Carleen, as sole beneficiaries. Mary appointed her close friend, Seta, as her estate trustee/executor. Laura…
By the time a matter reaches trial, a client and her lawyer will have spent a significant amount of time together. A bond often develops over the course of the relationship, with the client trusting that her lawyer will put forward her position forcibly and knowledgeably. As a result, an…
Imagine this – You’re front row center in your red leather jacket. The King of Pop is thrilling the crowd. He moonwalks so close to your seat that you can touch him. But you can’t. It’s a Michael Jackson hologram. You spent half your paycheck to watch a hologram perform….
As written previously, the requirement to file a tax return for trusts has been expanded. Thanks to new legislation, there are now exceptions to the exception to file. Generally speaking, a trust (other than a trust established by law or judgment) that is resident in Canada must file a tax…
Fall art auction week in Toronto is just past. The biggest is run by Heffel Fine Art Auction. The results for the two Heffel auctions illustrate the challenge of determining fair market value in art. The auction catalogue listed a number of estates and charitable foundation as consignors. Clearly art valuation…
“He knows where the bodies are buried” is a throwaway line from Orson Wells’ cinematic masterpiece, Citizen Kane. That line soon took on a life of its own and entered the cultural vernacular. In the world of estates, a more frequent problem is not finding the bodies but deciding where…
This Blog was written by: Alicia Godin, Estate and Trust Consultant, Scotiatrust A Registered Education Savings Plan (an “RESP”), is a type of tax deferred savings plan that parents, grandparents and other adults can open to save for the cost of a beneficiary’s post-secondary education. The beneficiary of an RESP…
This Blog was written by: Emily Racine It is a hard truth that after a client confirms they have a will done, the first comment to follow is often “but it was done years ago”. The reality is that even when clients have a will,…
Death is difficult to control. It has also proved impossible to avoid. However, married spouses are given greater options than the rest of us – they can choose to inherit their deceased partner’s estate under the Succession Law Reform Act or the Family Law Act. When a married spouse dies…