Today’s blog was written by Courtney Lanthier, Law Clerk at Fasken LLP. In recent years, I have noticed an increase in the younger generations (specifically my millennial generation) opting to have pets instead of children. This shift can be seen as a result of many economic factors and has ultimately…
This week’s blog has been written by Darren Lund In Ontario, as in most common law jurisdictions, charitable gifts are treated differently than other gifts in important ways. One of the clearest examples of this is that a gift for a charitable purpose will generally not fail for uncertainty. In…
The Applicant (the Deceased’s son) brought an application seeking to invalidate the Deceased’s 2023 Will, submit the Deceased’s 2022 Will for probate, and seek the return of the Deceased’s $95,000 gift to his nephew. The Deceased executed wills on March 16, 2022 and November 22, 2023. In his 2022 Will, the Applicant…
Today’s blog was written by Latoya Brown, Associate, at Fasken LLP When it comes to estate planning involving trusts, selecting the right trustee is one of the most crucial decisions. The recent case, Jones v. Jones, 2025 ONSC 695 serves as a poignant reminder of the complexities and potential pitfalls…
Today’s blog was written by Karen La Caprara, Counsel, at Fasken LLP. In my last blog post “Modern Families: References to Children and Issue in Wills – All About Estates”, I discussed the meaning of “children” and “issue” for the purpose of determining the beneficiaries of an estate where…
Today’s blog was written by Karen La Caprara, Counsel, at Fasken LLP. Like many modern families, the fictional Pritchett family in the series “Modern Family” has a variety of personalities, family dynamics and relationships, traditional and modern viewpoints. The many possible iterations and permutations of what makes a family…
Recently, the world learned of the passing of actor Gene Hackman and his wife, Betsy Arakawa in what appeared to very strange circumstances. Initially, there were concerns that their deaths may have been as a result of carbon monoxide poisoning. Autopsy reports have later revealed that this is not the…
Generally, the validity of a last will and testament can be challenged on the basis of: (i) lack of testamentary capacity; (ii) undue influence; (iii) lack of knowledge and approval of the will; and/or (iv) fraud. While allegations relating to undue influence often go hand-in-hand with claims relating to lack…
Today’s blog was written by Kelsey Buchmayer, associate with the Ottawa office of Gowling WLG (Canada) LLP Including an inflation adjustment clause in a Will where the circumstances so warrant can help with achieving fairness. The fairness can be as simple as ensuring monetary values expressed in a Will are…
This blog post was written by: Alicia Mossington, Estate and Trust Consultant, Scotiatrust London Historically in Ontario, a Last Will and Testament was required to meet strict formal validity requirements to be considered valid. The requirements set out in the Succession Law Reform Act required a Will to be in…