Experts giving evidence in an Ontario court are obliged to sign an acknowledgement that they are independent, with their obligation being to the court and not to the party who retained them. Nonetheless, scepticism regarding objectiveness and discrepancies between expert opinions remains, as demonstrated in the reasons of Justice Mesbur…
Thank you Sally Lee for your blog last week titled ‘Pre-arranging for Personal Care’. My colleague has discussed such an important topic and it is one that I feel strongly about. I felt this blog spoke to me directly as a ‘care service provider’ and as a resource to women…
This blog was written by Sally Lee, LLB – Estate and Trust Consultant with Scotia Wealth Management Recently, I met a prospective client (let’s call her Jane) who told me she did not have anyone to appoint as her attorney for personal care. It appeared that this issue was the…
Styres v. Martin 2018 ONCA 956 is a case of a gift that unfolded a saga (not over yet and far from it) of diminished capacity, alleged breach of trust, breach of fiduciary duty, unjust enrichment, undue influence to name a few. Mr. Styres lived in a house he built…
This blog was written by Andrew Ashenhurst, TEP – Associate Estate and Trust Consultant with Scotia Wealth Management A close friend of mine is actively involved in the Aboriginal space from both an economic and social development perspective. In his work he has often reached out to me with…
The recent case of Sylvester v. Britton, 2018 ONSC 6620 (“Sylvester”) provides an excellent review of the law regarding incapacity, attorneys for property and personal care, capacity assessments, and other issues which often arise in estate/capacity litigation cases. While the decision addresses many interesting points, this blog will focus upon…
All of the writers (and presumably the readers as well) know the importance of having their ‘important paper’ work completed. For me, most importantly this means completing Powers of Attorney for both Property and Personal care as well as Advanced Care Directives. For you, perhaps the ‘most importantly’ may be…
This blog was written by Sally Lee, LLB – Estate and Trust Consultant with Scotia Wealth Management. Some readers may ask the question, what’s the difference between a General Power of Attorney for Property (“GPOAP”) versus a Continuing or Enduring Power of Attorney for Property (“CPOAP”)? To be completely honest,…
My fellow bloggers and I write frequently about Powers of Attorney, however my concerns are often focused on the lack of planning when it comes to making Powers of Attorney for both Personal Care and Property. More specifically, although I do not have any statistical data, my subject matter experience…
My June 2017 blog described that most seniors appoint a continuing power of attorney for property (CPOAP), partly to avoid having the Office of the Public Guardian and Trustee (OPG&T) assume the role of statutory guardian of property under the Substitute Decisions Act (SDA) or the Mental Health Act (MHA)…
