For many people who own the house in which they live, their home is the most valuable asset in their estate. In many communities in Canada, house values have steadily increased over the last several years and particularly during the COVID-19 pandemic. This means that the value of an estate…
In Bishop Estate v. Sheardown, 2021 BCSC 1571, the Supreme Court of British Columbia gave effect to a Will the testator had failed to execute before her death. Facts: Marilyn Bishop died in British Columbia in the summer of 2020 at the age of 76. She had a prior Will…
My colleague Joanna Lindenberg and I had previously blogged on the case of Bayford v. Boese (the decision and the costs decision, respectively) where the court upheld the validity of a challenged will (the second of two ‘versions’ of the same will). However, in Bayford v. Boese, 2021 ONCA 442…
On March 16, 2020, the Superior Court of Ontario released its decision in Calmusky v Calmusky. In Calmusky, the Court applied the presumption of resulting trust to a RIF that was designated to a particular beneficiary. The beneficiary was unable to rebut the presumption, and the Court ordered that funds…
Most know that you don’t have to be legally married to have a “spouse” for income tax purposes, although legal marriage will work. If you have been living with someone in a conjugal relationship for 12 months or more regardless of your sex at birth, you will be considered spouses…
Today’s blog was written by guest blogger, Yvonne Mazurak, Articling Student at Fasken LLP. With today being Black Friday, it seemed appropriate to write a post about things. Afterall, many of us will likely spend some time this weekend taking advantage of Black Friday deals and buying things for our…
This blog was written by Paula Lester – Estate and Trust Consultant with Scotia Wealth Management No one can question that Eleena Murray, who passed away in May 2017 at the age of 99, had charitable intentions. On the other hand, exactly how charitable her intentions were is at the…
Do you have to serve all respondents with all materials filed in an application? Only if the person has filed a notice of appearance or the court orders otherwise.
A few months ago, I was sent this article in the Globe and Mail.[1] The article explores the notion of introducing legislation to legalize electronic wills in Ontario. Although some of us here in the estates and trusts world have experience deducing what the positives and negatives of electronic wills…
In Ontario, the Family Law Act (“FLA”) regulates the division of property and the availability of spousal support on separation or death.
