In my last blog I spoke about one of the biggest risks to the successful transition of a family business – poor communication among family members. Related to this is family dynamics. It is often thought that one of the best ways to address this risk, is to involve the…
A fellow blogger wrote very eloquently late last week about succession planning for family owned businesses. Regrettably, as she noted the statistics for the successful transfer of family businesses are not very good. With the introduction of the new tax proposals, the challenge for a successful transfer of business to…
In this blog I’d like to remind readers that the idea of “keeping it in the family” is still the most common response business owners provide when asked what they would like to see happen to their business after they have passed away. In fact, many business owners initially think…
October 2, 2017 saw the end of the 75 day consultation period offered by the Department of Finance. The public response to the proposed rule changes was significant with the general public, industry bodies and professional advisors all weighing in on the measures. So, what now? At a conference organized by…
From time to time, I am asked to prepare, review or comment on structures for estate planning purposes with a mind to valuation issues. A common valuation issue is control and whether or not the value of the business interest(s) in the estate plan should be discounted for lack of…
In what might be one of the last pipeline transactions my office will advise on (depending on the outcome of the Government of Canada tax proposals), I ran into an unfortunate situation which served to highlight a fundamental aspect of estate planning: Planning for your beneficiaries. Recently, I reached out…
As we continue to absorb the draft legislation (together with explanatory notes and consultation paper) introduced by the Department of Finance to overhaul the system of taxation for private companies, some things have are becoming clear. If essentially enacted as currently drafted, the legislation will likely spell the end of…
Recently, the Canada Revenue Agency (‘CRA”) was asked for its opinion on a fact situation with implications on the availability of the principal residence exemption for tax purposes, that I think also has applicability to estate planning in general and to some of the issues one can encounter when trying…
When developing estate plans for clients with property of a capital nature (real estate, marketable securities being a couple of examples), one of the questions I get asked more often than not is: How can I avoid probate? Can I just put someone else’s name on a document so it…
Recently, a fellow blogger wrote about the benefit of post-mortem pipeline transactions to avoid double tax on disposition of certain assets. Briefly, a pipeline transaction is a form of transaction whereby the assets of a corporation are distributed to shareholders utilizing the high adjusted cost base resulting from the capital…
