In Alger v. Crumb, the Ontario Court of Appeal confirmed that a general revocation clause in a will did not revoke the testator’s TFSA and RRIF beneficiary designations. The Court concluded that under s. 51 and s. 52 of the Succession Law Reform Act (“SLRA”), the beneficiary designations have to be expressly…
Today’s blog is written by Jessica J. Butler, Law Clerk at Fasken LLP. As today’s world continues to grow increasingly interconnected, more estate professionals find themselves dealing with a web of cross-border assets and jurisdictional issues. This post considers certain issues that you might face when administering a Canadian estate…
Today’s blog was written by Courtney Lanthier, Law Clerk at Fasken LLP. People in our profession often cringe when they hear the words “they died without a Will”, because as soon as we do, we can almost always envision problems arising. Unfortunately, it has become more and more common to…
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…
Just under six years ago, I bought a Pokémon Trading Card Game (TCG) Venusaur Ex Red and Blue Collection Box. I was feeling stressed about studying for my law school exams and, being a massive Pokémon fan, I went for a walk to my local hobby store and decided to…
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?…
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…
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…
Today’s blog was written by Courtney Lanthier, Law Clerk at Fasken LLP It feels like everyday a new television show or movie is released and sometimes (if we’re lucky) we get to see our profession played out on the big screen. But perhaps “lucky” isn’t the right word, since most…
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…
