All About Estates

Tag: estate planning

Total 336 Posts

Ghosts, Goblins and…Wills? It’s time for Spooky Season (aka Estate Planning Season)

Today’s blog was written by Courtney Lanthier, Law Clerk at Fasken LLP. With the colder months approaching, it’s the time of year when people start considering (or re-considering) their estate plan. But when it comes time to sit down and make a Will, people can often become overwhelmed by the…

Continue Reading

Lam v Law Estate: Gender bias permits variation of discriminatory will

Today’s blog post was written by Latoya Brown, an Associate at Fasken LLP. The discussion of discriminatory wills continues with a new case out of the British Columbia Supreme Court. In Lam v Law Estate, 2024 BCSC 156, the court varied a testatrix’s will on the reasoning that the testatrix’s…

Continue Reading

Equalizing an Estate Where One of More Children are U.S. Persons and Planning Strategies Where There Are U.S. Beneficiaries; Part III

This is Part III of a three-part blog series. Parts I & II can be found at the following respective links: https://www.allaboutestates.ca/equalizing-an-estate-where-one-of-more-children-are-u-s-persons-and-planning-strategies-where-there-are-u-s-beneficiaries-part-i/ and https://www.allaboutestates.ca/equalizing-an-estate-where-one-of-more-children-are-u-s-persons-and-planning-strategies-where-there-are-u-s-beneficiaries-part-ii/. Parts I & II discussed a few issues to consider if a client’s intention is to equalize their estate amongst their children where one or more…

Continue Reading

From Estate to Heir: Who Foots the Bill for Shipping Expenses?

One of the main duties of an executor is to distribute the assets of an estate according to the terms of the Will. Typically, it is easy to pay a cash legacy to a beneficiary or to deliver a specific bequest if the beneficiary lives nearby. But what happens if…

Continue Reading

Dear Parents of Young Children, please don’t delay your will planning because you can’t choose a guardian for your minor children

This blog has been written by Karen La Caprara, Counsel at Fasken LLP When I speak with parents of young children who don’t have wills in place, the most common reason I hear for their delinquency is not that they’re too busy, that it’s too expensive or that they don’t…

Continue Reading

Real Estate in Estate Planning: Tax Consequences

Today’s blog was written by Jessica Butler, Law Clerk at Fasken LLP. Many Canadians hold a large share of their wealth in personally-owned real estate and consider it to be a critical part of their wealth-building strategy. Donald Sutherland, the well known Canadian actor who passed away in June of…

Continue Reading

Planning for Cottage Season

Today’s blog was written by Courtney Lanthier, Law Clerk at Fasken LLP With the summer months now here, we enter into another cottage season – a time for family and friends to gather, make new memories and relax and unwind. For many, cottages hold significant sentimental value. They are a…

Continue Reading

The Next Succession? Lessons from a family estate gone wrong…

Today’s blog was written by Karen La Caprara, Counsel, at Fasken Martineau DuMoulin LLP. This being my first All About Estates blog, I thought I would make it a personal one. So, as an introduction, I decided that I would share my family experience that contributed to my decision to…

Continue Reading

When Parent and Child have a Joint Bank Account: Who Receives Funds upon Parent’s Death?

This blog has been written by Lily MacLeod [Associate] at Fasken LLP It is common for an elderly parent to set up a joint bank account with their adult child. This enables the child to help manage the parent’s finances freely and efficiently (either as the parent’s attorney for property…

Continue Reading

Gamers are Letting off Some “Steam” After Learning that Purchased Games are Not Transferrable on Death

Pictured: A screenshot of a discussion between a Steam user and a Steam Support representative that has taken the internet by storm. Usually, I get my trusts and estates-related news from legal blogs, LinkedIn or emails from colleagues. So, you can imagine my surprise when I stumbled upon a pretty…

Continue Reading