Today’s blog post has been written by Karen La Caprara, Counsel, at Fasken LLP. When two abutting parcels of land or properties are owned by the same owner or owners, title to the properties automatically merges, unless an exception to this general principle applies.[i] Once title to the abutting…
Category: Real Estate
Total 88 Posts
Today’s blog was written by Jessica Butler, Law Clerk at Fasken LLP. Many Canadians hold a large share of their wealth in personally-owned real estate and consider it to be a critical part of their wealth-building strategy. Donald Sutherland, the well known Canadian actor who passed away in June of…
Today’s blog was written by Kelsey Buchmayer, associate with the Ottawa office of Gowling WLG (Canada) LLP There are several benefits to searching title for your client’s real property when initiating their estate planning. For instance, you can confirm title is held as your client understands it to be and…
Today’s blog was written by Douglas Buchmayer, partner with the Ottawa office of Gowling WLG (Canada) LLP A common issue facing estate planning practitioners in Eastern Ontario is the Ontario resident client owning Quebec assets, often the family cottage, which need to be dealt with in a Will. Where a…
Kira Domratchev, Associate Gowling WLG (Canada) LLP I recently came across an interesting decision of the Ontario Superior Court of Justice where the Court used the doctrine of a resulting trust to reach an outcome on a series of events that left a creditor unable to collect an outstanding costs…
Alicia Mossington, Estate and Trust Consultant Executors have many responsibilities: paying debts; taxes; testamentary expenses; and managing estate assets. Different assets come with different responsibilities and rules and some assets – like rental properties – have unique complexities to manage. It is common for estates to include rental properties especially…
When a non-resident of Canada generates rental income from a Canadian rental property, the tenant (or agent for the non-resident) must withhold 25% of the gross rental payment (unless a tax treaty reduces the withholding rate) and remit it to the Canada Revenue Agency by the prescribed date. It’s important…
Trustees holding title to real property jointly with right of survivorship should make estate succession efficient and inexpensive. But recent changes implemented by the Director of Land Titles are challenging that notion.
When a trust makes a capital distribution to a non-resident beneficiary, the beneficiary is deemed to have disposed of a part or the whole of their capital interest in the trust.[2] Where the capital interest in the trust is “taxable Canadian property” (“TCP”),[3] the vendor of the TCP (i.e. the beneficiary who is deemed to be “disposing” of their interest in the trust) must apply for a clearance certificate from the Canada Revenue Agency (the “CRA”) under section 116, either in advance of the disposition or within 10 days of the disposition.
It is important to consider estate planning objectives when entering into real estate transactions. For example, a client may intend to retain control of real property in that they intend to be able to dispose of it on death. However, if the relevant estate planning objectives are not identified and…