Use of spousal trust or common-law partner trusts Setting up a spousal or common-law partner trust is a very important decision that generally results from non-tax reasons. One of the common reasons for setting up this type of trust is to protect the surviving spouse from influencers who might try…
The Dutch House, by Ann Patchett, is an excellent read. However, for those in the estate planning profession, it is also a reflection on what goes wrong when insufficient or no estate planning occurs.
CRA will allow post-mortem pipeline transactions to continue, which will allow individuals to avoid double tax on disposition of certain assets.
In my previous blog, Estate planning and TOSI Part I, I introduced the concept of the tax on split income (TOSI) continuity rules which are extremely important when estate planning. The objective of the continuity rules is to afford the beneficiary, who would not have an excluded amount of their…
Finance stated that the purpose of the revised tax on split income (TOSI) regime, which became effective January 1, 2018 was “to limit the ability of owners of private corporations to lower their personal income taxes by sprinkling their income to family members who do not really contribute to the business.”[1] The objectives related…
Our epidemiologists and public heath officers are warning us gently that the dreaded virus will be with us for awhile. Nevertheless, we are all hoping that our economy will recover soon (and to some extent our financial markets have), but it appears asset values in general may be depressed for…
As someone who has been around the life insurance industry in a professional and personal capacity for several decades, I am always curious about what motivates people to buy or not buy life insurance. I understand that few people spend time thinking about the consequences of low-probability events and are…
In past blogs, we discussed income splitting arrangements available to individuals who wish to loan funds to his/her lower income spouse or adult child, or in the case of minor children, a discretionary family trust. Such loans would be used to invest in income producing properties such as marketable securities,…
The freezing of current share value so that your chosen successors can easily participate in the future growth of your enterprise is a common estate planning technique. What if the value of the frozen shares now exceeds the value of the enterprise as a whole? I wrote about this sometime…
Court of Appeal interpreted an option to purchase a business set out in the deceased’s last will.
