I was honoured to moderate a panel today at the Advocates’ Society’s CPD today “Capable or Not? How to Effectively Litigate and Mediate a Power of Attorney Dispute” (which will be available for purchase online in a couple of months as a webcast archive at TAS’ website). Justices McEwen and…
Written by Fatima Husnain, student-at-law at Fasken Martineau DuMoulin LLP Prior to law school, I worked in a hospital inpatient mental health unit. Many of the patients were unable to make their own health care decisions and relied upon other individuals to make decisions on their behalf. If anyone had…
All of the writers (and presumably the readers as well) know the importance of having their ‘important paper’ work completed. For me, most importantly this means completing Powers of Attorney for both Property and Personal care as well as Advanced Care Directives. For you, perhaps the ‘most importantly’ may be…
Believe it or not, this is the title of a recent release from the Canada Revenue Agency (“CRA”). Is there really a softer side to the CRA? Let’s face there is a lot to do after a loved one dies, and a lot of it not related to tax. But…
My previous blog ended with the following sentence: “Where a power of attorney for property is effective upon execution, proper safeguards should be put in place to ensure the power of attorney is not inappropriately acted upon”. This blog will expand on the meaning of that sentence. Where a power…
In 2009, Hermine Wekerle, mother of financier and Dragon’s Den star, Michael Wekerle, signed an unconditional power of attorney for property giving one of her three daughters, Caron, authority to be her substitute decision-maker. In 2016, acting under the power of attorney for property, Caron agreed to sell a little…
My fellow bloggers and I write frequently about Powers of Attorney, however my concerns are often focused on the lack of planning when it comes to making Powers of Attorney for both Personal Care and Property. More specifically, although I do not have any statistical data, my subject matter experience…
Further to my colleague Diane Vieira’s March 15, 2017 blog, in which she summarized the Law Commission of Ontario report on legal capacity, decision-making and guardianship in Ontario, I wanted to highlight some key recommendations that I found to be particularly relevant. Over the last while, I have noticed a…
Last month, a fellow blogger Audrey Miller wrote on care expenses and services in general which may be eligible for a tax credit in one form or another. Co-incidentally the Canada Revenue Agency (“CRA”) was recently asked to comment on the tax system overall as it applies to seniors and…
When a dispute arises inside a blended family over who will make substitute decisions for in incapable person, the court may have to step in. In Corewyn v McCulloch, 2015 ONSC 6039, Justice Sweeny appointed the incapable person’s daughter as her guardian, despite the existence of a valid power of…
