All About Estates

Tag: Wills

Total 187 Posts

Administering an Estate: A Marathon of Responsibilities

We had a Zoom call with our adult children a few weekends ago. We talked about our son’s engagement, as our daughter hadn’t yet heard the details of how he had proposed. We also talked about our daughter’s recent 5K run at the Toronto Zoo and how it compared to…

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Videos and Wills: Helpful or Harmful?

Pictured: A screen grab from the music video for “Only Acting” by Kero Kero Bonito. It’s one of my favourite songs. It’s not quite about video wills, but it does show off some of the challenges of recording oneself. What are Video Wills? Some practitioners have floated the idea of…

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Firearms, Wills, Estates, and the impact of Bill C-21

Bill C-21- An Act to amend certain Acts and to make certain consequential amendments (firearms)   This blog has been written by Sandra Arsenault, Law Clerk at Fasken LLP Estates practitioners should be aware that Bill C-21, the controversial legislation which imposes strict gun control provisions Canada-wide, received Royal Assent…

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Equalizing an Estate Where One of More Children are U.S. Persons and Planning Strategies Where There Are U.S. Beneficiaries; Part I

In circumstances where clients, who are Canadian residents, intend to equalize their estates amongst their children (“Equalization Intention”) where one or more of such children are “U.S. Persons” (a “U.S. Child”), estate planners need to consider whether that is possible and if so, how (“whether” and “how”, the “Questions”).  This…

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New Year, New Will – and Other Important Moments to Revisit Planning

Happy 2024  everyone! The start of a new year is often the impetus for individuals to revisit their estate plan.[1]  While this is a worthwhile exercise, it’s important to remember that there are several other key moments that may occur at any point during a given year that should give…

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Wish lists are for more than just the holiday season

This blog has been written by Mohena Singh [Associate] at Fasken LLP As we near the new year and reflect on another holiday season, many of us may have used this time to spend with family and friends or catch up on some much needed rest and recovery. This time…

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Human Reproductive Material and Your Estate

Today’s blog was written by Courtney Lanthier, Law Clerk at Fasken LLP. One of the first thoughts people may have when starting to think about their estate plan is “who will inherit my estate?” It’s also an important question to ask clients when meeting to discuss their plans for their…

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Avoid Becoming Part of a Statistic

LawPro recently released its report concerning Wills and estates malpractice claims as of the end of 2022.  As we approach the busy year end, I thought it would be helpful to remind practitioners of the most common errors and some risk management tips in that regard. Interestingly (and perhaps somewhat…

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Will We Need to Start Remembering the “Right to be Forgotten”?

Pictured: Some myosotis flowers; colloquially known as “forget-me-nots”. I thought these would be appropriate for this blog post. In the estate planning world, we often see clients who want to be remembered for generations to come. For example, this could be through establishing a charitable gift, trust or foundation in…

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Taking Back Control of Real Property

It is important to consider estate planning objectives when entering into real estate transactions. For example, a client may intend to retain control of real property in that they intend to be able to dispose of it on death. However, if the relevant estate planning objectives are not identified and…

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