All About Estates

Category: Joint Tenancy

Total 43 Posts

Sham(e) on You!

McGoey (Re), 2019 ONSC 80 (CanLII) is a fun case which reminds readers of the law surrounding sham trusts, but also demonstrates that the most convincing evidence can sometimes be found right on the (type)face of a document, the validity of which is in issue. In this motion, the trustee…

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Summary Judgment and Limitation Periods in the Context of Estate Litigation

Today’s blog was co-written by Ronald Neal. In Sinclair v Harris, Justice Nakatsuru granted summary judgment on the basis that the claims advanced on behalf of the estate were statute-barred. The deceased passed away in November 2015.  The Plaintiffs are the estate trustees appointed in the deceased’s will (the “Estate Trustees”).  Five years…

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Life Insurance and Contingent Ownership

Ownership of assets into ‘joint tenancy with right of survivorship” is a mechanism of ownership transfer commonly used for estate planning to address such issues as probate fee and tax avoidance. Recently, this blog site very capably addressed the issues surrounding “joint tenancy” of life insurance in particular (“Life Insurance…

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The Cost of Winning, Sort of….

In my practice, I have been engaged on valuation matters which, on occasion despite the efforts of all those involved, go to trial to have a trial judge settle for the parties. Most trials are expensive and the actual outcome is not always certain, no matter how strong one side…

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Life Insurance Joint Tenants[1]

I think it is fair to say that joint ownership of property[2] is one of the most commonly used strategies for property ownership in the context of developing an estate plan.  Like any form of partnership, there are many issues to consider in jointly owning property.  In the context of…

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Domestic Contracts After Death

Interesting things happen when family law and estates collide. Battles over domestic contracts and houses lead to discussions of past mistakes, life experience, and occupation rent. Such was the case in Psarros Estate v Cook. As with many estates litigation cases, the Court was asked to determine a broad range…

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GIFTS – Some Additional Thougths

Recently, I wrote about the gifting of cash or assets during one’s lifetime as an alternative method of distributing your wealth (beyond what you need to live on comfortably) and possibly avoid taxes (probate, income etc.) at time of death. I suggested that your heirs could use the funds in…

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JOINT TENANCY AND PROBATE AVOIDANCE – A QUICK REVISIT

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…

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Promises, Promises…or is that Expectations, Expectations?

This Blog was written by: Gosha Sekhon, LLB A not uncommon occurrence these days finds single adult children residing with an elderly, surviving parent. The parent, more often than not, requires some assistance with their health care, household tasks and the management of their financial affairs. Usually the co-habiting child…

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ATTRIBUTION RULES AND PLANNING REVISITED

Recently the Canada Revenue Agency (the “CRA”) issued a technical interpretation on the application of the income attribution rules under the Income Tax Act (“ITA”) which serves as a good primer particularly when a personal representative is looking at the deceased’s prior year returns with joint accounts and the potential…

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