All About Estates

Category: Passing Of Trustees’ and Executors’ Accounts

Total 46 Posts

Suggestions to Reduce the Potential for Elder Financial Abuse

I suggest that improved screening for vulnerability to abuse is clearly needed for seniors appointing family members as attorneys for property.

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Tips on Bringing a Passing of Accounts Application

In my first blog post (as a guest blogger), I wrote about what a law clerk is and what it is that we do.  In today’s blog I will expand on a task that an estate law clerk is frequently involved in – a court passing of accounts – and…

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You Can’t Always Get What You Want, But … You Get What You Need

In Poitras v. Canadian Cancer Society et. al., 2020 ONSC 4935 (CanLII), a  decision on a motion, the Estate Trustee/moving party sought an order setting the terms of a release so an interim distribution could be made. The responding party argued that an interim distribution could not be made until…

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Trustees Ordered to Pay Costs Personally

In a recent court decision, the court declined to order costs payable from a modest estate and instead ordered the two parties (both trustees) to pay costs personally. A testamentary trustee, Mr. Cardinal, brought an application to compel estate trustee, Mrs. Perreault, to pass her accounts in her capacity as…

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Master the ETDL Appointment

Estate Trustees During Litigation are appointed in a wide variety of situations where a neutral party is needed to administer and preserve the estate assets. The bar for their appointment is lower than to remove an estate trustee.

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Clearance Certificates

An executor, as the legal representative of the estate, is required to obtain a clearance certificate before distributing property that they control. Where the executor fails to obtain a clearance certificate, they are liable for any unpaid amounts in respect of any property distributed. Some will argue that not every…

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Hidden Fees – A Breach of Trust

Registered accounts are often set up as express trust accounts, with the bank acting as trustee and the account holder as beneficiary. In these cases, banks are subject to all the same fiduciary duties and responsibilities that apply to all trustees – meaning they cannot charge hidden fees.

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No Passing of Accounts Unless “Significant Concern”

Emerson and Marie Lewis appointed two of their six adult children, Donald and Douglas Lewis, as their attorneys for property. Their remaining four children (the “non-attorney siblings”) commenced an application pursuant to ss. 42(1) and (4) of the Substitute Decisions Act, 1992, S.O. 1992, c.30 (the “SDA”) for leave to…

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What is it you guys do anyway?

Today’s blog is being brought to you by guest blogger, Betty Laidlaw, a law clerk in the Private Client Services group of Fasken LLP. When someone asks me what I do for a living and I answer, “I’m a law clerk”, I often get blank stares.  When I say “paralegal”,…

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Can You be Removed as a Trustee Without a Replacement?

The recent case of Novak v. McDougall, (2019 SKQB 261), confirms that when you have accepted an appointment to be trustee, you may not be able to have yourself removed from that appointment without a suitable replacement. The applicant in this case, a beneficiary of a “Henson” trust (basically defined…

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