Brianna Fable-Watson, Articling Student, Gowling WLG (Canada) LLP When planning your estate, creating a spousal trust is an effective way to ensure that your spouse is financially supported while also protecting the inheritance for your children or other beneficiaries. In a typical spousal trust, your surviving spouse receives the income…
Over the last couple decades, many Canadians have invested in real estate, more specifically, in rental properties. As a result, their real estate holdings will constitute a substantial part of their estate therefore, their estate plan should consider how best to minimize capital gains on death and preserve their real…
There is a saying among charitable gift planners: “beware of donors of in-kind property with valuations in hand.” In other words, some gifts may be too good to be true. This folk wisdom contains a serious point. Donors, executors and charities often struggle with the valuation of in-kind donation. Who…
Today’s blog was written by Jessica Butler, Law Clerk at Fasken LLP. The Ontario Ministry of the Attorney General has once again revised the estate-related Court forms, this time under O. Reg. 72/25, which came into effect on August 13, 2025. These changes aim to streamline the probate application process…
THE FOLLOWING BLOG POST WAS WRITTEN BY IRYNA HUK, STUDENT-AT-LAW AT DE VRIES LITIGATION LLP When a sentimental estate asset is wrongfully altered or destroyed, courts must decide whether the appropriate remedy is to award the estate the value of a replacement or the cost of restoring the original. The…
Today’s blog has been written by David C. Rosenbaum, Partner, at Fasken LLP Subsection 21.1(1) of the Succession Law Reform Act (SLRA) permits the Superior Court of Justice to validate a document or will that was not properly executed or made under the Act, if the deceased died after January…
This blog post was written by: Alicia Mossington, Estate and Trust Consultant, Scotiatrust London Estate trustees in Ontario are entitled to be compensated for their work in administering the estate. Understanding estate trustee (“executor”) compensation is important whether you are an executor or are considering who to appoint for your…
Today’s blog was written by Karen La Caprara, Counsel, at Fasken LLP. Pour-over clauses in wills are a staple in U.S. estate planning, used to direct estate assets into an existing trust. But in Ontario and British Columbia, these clauses can lead to invalid testamentary gifts, intestacy, and costly…
I’m confident that lawyers and clerks who work with assistants will agree: legal assistants are vital to the daily operations of a legal practice. There have been a number of blogs written about the day in the life of an estate planner or a law clerk working in estates. In…
This blog post was written by: Patricia Chartrand, Estate and Trust Consultant, Scotiatrust Vancouver Scandinavian death cleaning is the act of purging the superfluous and keeping the necessary in anticipation of your passing. The result is leaving the smallest physical footprint upon passing. It takes much less effort for your…