All About Estates

Tag: Executors

Total 144 Posts

PRACTICAL SUGGESTIONS FOR LAWYERS ACTING AS EXECUTORS

Working in the estates administration area we are called upon to advise and guide clients on their duties, obligations and responsibilities in connection with their role as the executor for the estate.  What happens when your client is also a lawyer?  This blog is not meant to provide legal advice…

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When Estates Law Meets Criminal Law: A Recent Case of a Fraudulent Will

Estates law doesn’t typically make the news, so my attention is always piqued when I see a headline about a Will. A recent criminal case featuring a fraudulent Will made front-page news, and serves as a reminder of what a powerful document a Will is, the need to carefully plan…

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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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Atypical Asset Administration (Part 1)

This blog has been written by Sandra Arsenault, Law Clerk at Fasken LLP Picture this: you are an executor cleaning out your mother’s apartment. Under the bed you unexpectedly find five (5) handguns and a hand grenade. Do you (a) call the police, (b) secure the items somewhere safe until…

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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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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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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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Anything New with Passing of Accounts?

Much has been written about the significant changes to the Ontario court probate forms and processes that came into effect on January 1, 2022, and more recently the July 1, 2022 amendments.  But, is there anything new with passing of accounts? Surprisingly, there have been no changes to the court…

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Estate Sleuthing

As a law clerk working in the area of estate administration, we often have to act as “detectives”.  For example, we may have to conduct searches to determine whether or not the deceased had a Will.  We may need to track down the beneficiaries named in the Will or piece…

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