All About Estates

Category: Practice Management

Total 17 Posts

Videos and Wills: Helpful or Harmful?

Pictured: A screen grab from the music video for “Only Acting” by Kero Kero Bonito. It’s one of my favourite songs. It’s not quite about video wills, but it does show off some of the challenges of recording oneself. What are Video Wills? Some practitioners have floated the idea of…

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Update to Virtual Verification of Client Identity Requirements

The ability to verify a client’s identity virtually which was introduced during the pandemic will continue, with some modifications. The updated by-law 7.1, which comes into effect in 2024, will allow a lawyer to verify a client’s identity virtually by using technology to confirm that the government-issued photo identification is valid and matches the client.

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Brampton’s Civil Court Procedure – An Update

The Superior Court of Justice issued a new Consolidated Civil Provincial Practice Direction for all civil proceedings effective as of June 15, 2023. In addition, the Brampton court office has adopted new procedures for civil matters designed to lead to a more effective use of court time and resources.

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Tax planning in uncertain times

Tax planning can be very complicated with an Income Tax Act (“Act”) consisting of over 1.1 million words. This is a far cry from the original 4,000 words of the Act’s predecessor, Income War Tax Act[1], which was originally enacted as a temporary measure in 1917. The more than 3,000…

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The Mysteries of Probate, Revealed

Of all the questions I am asked about the administration of estates, the ones that come up the most frequently are: “what is probate?”; “how do I know if I need probate?”; and “what’s involved in applying for probate?” Herein – the answers.

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Who Gets Served?

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.

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Look Out: The New Trust Reporting Rules Are Almost Here

As we head in to the Fall of 2020, we are quickly approaching the new trust reporting requirements. The new trust reporting rules come into effect with taxation years ending after Dec. 30, 2021. As a reminder to administrators, if a trust continues to be in place past Dec. 31,…

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Thoughts on Litigating in a Pandemic

We are now several weeks into self-isolation, physical distancing, and working from home. Litigating is certainly not top of mind for most people. Moreover, the courts are operating under a limited schedule and will continue restricting the number of matters moving forward well into the summer (jury trials, for example,…

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COVID-19: New Practice Directions

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the court has issued new practice directions to keep the profession and the public safe.

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The New Simplified Procedure Rule (Rule 76)

Since it was enacted in 1996, Rule 76 of the Ontario Rules of Civil Procedure has provided for a simplified procedure to streamline claims of relatively modest monetary value. The goal remains to reduce legal costs and speed up the administration of justice. The Government of Ontario made significant changes…

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