All About Estates

Tag: estate & trust

Total 167 Posts

The Life and Legacy of Gina Lollobrigida – An Estates Perspective

Today’s blog is written by Jessica J. Butler, Law Clerk at Fasken LLP. Italian cinema legend Gina Lollobrigida passed away at the age of 95 in January 2023.  Known by fans as ‘La Lollo’, she starred in over 60 films which included the likes of Frank Sinatra and Sean Connery….

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Atypical Asset Administration (Part 2)

This blog has been written by Sandra Arsenault, Law Clerk at Fasken LLP Welcome back! This is Part 2 of a two-part series on unusual assets and estate administration. For part one, please see my blog post here. Typical assets in an estate consist of real property, automobiles, corporations, investments,…

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It’s That “Tax Talk” Time of Year….Again

As the calendar rolls into March and tax slips arrive in the mail, I thought that I would remind blog readers about a provision in the Income Tax Act (the “ITA”) that I think is one of the more insidious ones, namely the so-called “corporate attribution rule” in subsection 74.4…

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What Happens if Something Happens to your Executor?

Choosing who to name as the executor of your estate is an important decision to make when preparing your will (and a topic on which other All About Estates blogs have been written). But what happens if something happens to your executor, and they are unable or unwilling to act?…

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Will The Vacant Home Tax Impact Use of the Principal Residence Exemption; Estate Planning Considerations

  Overview The Ontario government has enabled municipalities to enact a tax on vacant residential units in their regions (Granted under Part IX.1 of the Municipal Act).[1] Each municipality has to pass a By-Law stating the tax rate and conditions of vacancy that, if met, make a property subject to…

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Valuation of Interests in Discretionary trusts and Family Law

These days, it is quite common to find intergenerational wealth transfer to consist of property held in a discretionary family trust whose beneficiaries may or may not have been in marital relationships at the time of the time the trusts were created. A siginifcant number of legal and financials issues…

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As You’re ‘Checking Your List’, Don’t Forget Your Year End Tax Planning

As the holidays approach, so too does December 31st or the end of a calendar year.  This date can mean different things to different people.  For those in the business of estate and tax planning, the spectre of December 31st often leads to calls from clients who are looking to:…

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The Secret Language of Estates, and Inflation

Estates clerks and lawyers “speak” their own language.  We use acronyms or initialisms[1] such as CAET, EIR, RCP, ARI, AET, GRE, POA and COLA.  We use abbreviations like Benys and T’ees, and we draw triangles.  The idea for this blog was born when reflecting on having to interpret a lawyer’s…

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Considerations When Trustees are Involved in Transactions

Approaching year end, you increasingly may be fielding calls from corporate lawyer peers who are closing transactions in which trusts are involved. For example, trusts may be direct vendors or sellers, or, perhaps HoldCos are the sellers, but one or more trusts own the shares of the HoldCos.  This blog…

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ELDER ABUSE: A GROWING PROBLEM IN AN AGING POPULATION

Today’s blog is co-written by Jennifer Campbell and Sandra Arsenault, Senior Law Clerks in the Private Client Services Group at Fasken. At the beginning of November, we were fortunate enough to attend the Institute of Law Clerks of Ontario (ILCO) annual conference in Niagara-on-the-Lake.  This conference brings together law clerks…

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