All About Estates

Tag: COVID-19

Total 35 Posts

COVID-19 update: Government Works to Fix Potential Limitation Period Problem

In order to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic, the government suspended limitation periods and other statutory deadlines between March and September. However, due to concerns about the manner in which the suspension was lifted, the government is currently seeking a declaration that the limitation period was, in fact, validly suspended…

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Living Fully Before Dying

While I cooked all familiar  traditional foods last week, the family celebration was very different and difficult this year.  Of course not having my mother at the table was primary but due to Covid we were only the immediate family. No cousins, no friends joined us this year. Such a…

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Friday August 21, 2020 was World Senior Citizen’s Day. So What?

World Senior Citizen’s Day was originally founded by former president Ronald Regan in 1988. The goal of this day is to remind  various governments of its “ commitment to support senior citizens of the country”.  Well, I don’t think we have done very well… Dr. Samir Sinha wrote an article…

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Where There’s a Will, There’s a Way: Virtual Witnessing and Undue Influence During COVID-19

This blog was written by Lara Besharat As the pandemic trudges on, jurisdictions are bowing to pressure, allowing for what was once a rigidly fixed process to be done virtually. In Canada, a will historically required the physical presence of two witnesses alongside the testator to be considered valid. However,…

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LIFE INSURANCE IN THE COVID-19 ERA

As someone who has been around the life insurance industry in a professional and personal capacity for several decades, I am always curious about what motivates people to buy or not buy life insurance. I understand that few people spend time thinking about the consequences of low-probability events and are…

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June is Senior’s Month

Let me start this blog by expressing my sincere thanks to all of you who reached out to me last week.  Support during times of grief is so soothing and comforting and yet words do not quite make up for the warm embrace of friends and loved one who cannot…

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COVID-19: Emergency Orders Extended and Courts to (Partially and Potentially) Reopen

Earlier today, the Ontario government extended all its emergency orders (including the order suspending statutory deadlines). de VRIES LITIGATION LLP brings you this special Saturday blog on this matter and other breaking developments on the justice system and COVID-19. As noted in my previous blog, the Ontario government made an…

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Unrestricted Giving – In Life and Estates

An “ah ha” of COVID-19 is the importance of unrestricted giving to charity.  Donors, foundations and charities are realizing that excess conditions may hinders responses to urgent social needs.  Will this insight last beyond the pandemic? And does it apply to estate donations? Trust-Based Philanthropy First a bit of context. …

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From e-Wills to Blockchain Estates

This blog was written by Isabelle Cadotte – Estate and Trust Consultant with Scotia Wealth Management One of the silver linings of the pandemic has been our collective rethinking of how we work and our willingness to embrace technology that helps us stay connected and work smarter. From remotely sworn…

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Listing in a Time of COVID

Regular court operations and limitation periods/statutory deadlines continue to be suspended in Ontario due to COVID-19 (as discussed further in my previous blog). However, this does not mean that litigation is somehow frozen or that deadlines in previous court orders do not apply. One party learned this painful lesson in…

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