In my last post, I wrote about a recent Technical Interpretation from the CRA where the CRA was asked to consider whether a survivor payment could be made by an executor out of a deceased taxpayer’s TFSA (or, more specifically, former TFSA) to the deceased’s spouse in satisfaction of a…
In Technical Interpretation 2016-0679751E5 the CRA considered whether a survivor payment could be made out of deceased’s TFSA to the deceased’s spouse, in circumstances where the spouse was not the designated beneficiary of the TFSA. In this case, the executor wished to satisfy a legacy to the deceased’s spouse out…
In my last blog post of January 27, 2017, I discussed testamentary letters of wishes and some of the benefits and potential pitfalls of their use. For the purposes of the post, I limited the discussion to testamentary letters of wishes which are designed to convey a testator’s wishes and…
During the June 10, 2016 Toronto STEP Conference Roundtable, the CRA was asked to provide its views on paragraph 8 of IT-3054, which states: Once a trust qualifies as a spouse trust under the terms of subsection 70(6), it remains a spouse trust and is subject to the provisions affecting…
Felty v. Ernst & Young LLP, 2015 BCCA 445, is an interesting case from the Court of Appeal of British Columbia. The issue on appeal was whether the trial judge erred in concluding that a retainer agreement clause limiting the respondent firm’s liability to the amount of its fees was…
Two witnesses are sometimes hard to find. In a pinch, could an individual who is appointed as an executor under a Will act as a witness to that Will? In Ontario, the rules governing the formalities of Wills, including the eligibility of witnesses, are set out in the Succession Law…
Reciprocal wills contain terms that mirror one another and are frequently prepared for couples. Mutual Wills are reciprocal Wills that the testators have agreed cannot be changed, at least without the consent of the other. Where there is no written agreement, the question arises: when do reciprocal Wills become mutual…
Clients who have strong preferences regarding their personal care sometimes include wishes or directions for their attorney to follow in making health care decisions on their behalf. These wishes or directions may include the client’s desire that the hospital refrain from administering CPR or other resuscitation. In addition or alternatively,…
In Will drafting, it is common to include beneficiary designations for life insurance, TFSAs and RRSPS/RRIFs, but sometimes pension plans are overlooked. If the client has a spouse (married or common law), the spouse will automatically receive the client’s pension survivor benefits pursuant to Ontario law. However, members of a plan generally have the ability to designate a non-spouse beneficiary to receive benefits in the event that they die with no spouse surviving. In Ontario, the ability to designate a beneficiary by Will to receive benefits from a pension plan on a member’s death is found in sections 50 and 51 of the Succession Law Reform Act.
On March 22nd, Finance Minister Bill Morneau tabled the 2016 Federal Budget (the “Budget”). As expected, the Budget contained a number of measures impacting personal wealth planning. Some of the more significant measures include: