All About Estates

Category: Dependant Support

Total 27 Posts

Are Domestic Contracts Becoming More Popular?

When I explain to people whom I’m meeting for the first time that I’m a lawyer and that among my areas of practice I draft domestic contracts, I’m often met with a response to the effect of “You mean, like, a pre-nup?” I can confirm that a “pre-nup” is, in…

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Capacity to Marry: Balancing Autonomy with Protection of the Vulnerable

Capacity to marry is often raised in the context of an allegation of a predatory marriage. But what about when the adult children disapprove of the union and devise a scheme to protect their inheritance from the purported “gold digger”? This was the scenario in the case of Tanti v…

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Does the Estate Trustee Always Participate in Estate Litigation?

One of the duties of an estate trustee is to respond to litigation brought against the estate. The estate trustee is also the only person with the authority to start litigation on behalf of the estate. Because estates are not legal entities such as corporations, the party to the litigation…

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Does the Moral Behaviour of a Dependant Matter in a Dependant Support Claim?

Well-behaved children receive gifts from Santa, and poorly behaved ones just might receive a lump of coal. Does the law on dependant support work the same way?

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Spousal Election – The Right of the Survivor

In Ontario, the Family Law Act (“FLA”) regulates the division of property and the availability of spousal support on separation or death.

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What Makes a Marriage?

Each province in Canada establishes its own rules regarding the distribution of property where a person dies without a will. In Ontario, intestate succession is governed by Part II of the Succession Law Reform Act (the “SLRA”). Inheritance on intestacy is limited to married spouses and blood relations. If a…

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Demonstrating Financial Need in a Dependant Support Claim

Today’s blog was written by Tyler Lin, student-at-law with de VRIES LITIGATION LLP When a person passes away, what happens to those who were depending on them? In Ontario, the requirement to provide for your dependants does not end on death. Where the deceased has failed to leave adequate support…

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Deleon v DeRanney and the Definition of “child” Under the SLRA

In Deleon v. DeRanney, the Ontario Superior Court of Justice awarded some dependant support to a non-biological child who was part of the deceased’s unconventional family. As blog readers may be aware, the Succession Law Reform Act (SLRA) does not require that a child be the biological offspring of the…

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Home Buyer’s Plan and Disabled Family Member

In a recent blog, I wrote about the availability of Home Buyer’s Plan (HBP) to an individual after the death of her spouse who purchased the matrimonial home. In a recent Technical Interpretation (2019-0819671E5, D. Odubella), the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) was asked by a taxpayer to review the availability…

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Accommodating Beneficiaries of a Will With Differing Gender Identities

Accommodating Beneficiaries With Differing Gender Identities Our society is becoming increasingly attuned to accommodating the needs of people who have various gender identities, whether such people are transgender, queer, or do not identify as one specific gender. For example, Ontario announced a few years ago that its residents can use…

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