In the recent decision of Zarrin–Mehr v. Shokrai, 2024 ONSC 6319, the court considered whether the circumstances warranted the appointment of an estate trustee during litigation. Facts Sadollah Zarrinmerh, died on November 15, 2020. He was survived by his wife, Soraya Shokrai, and two children, Mehdi Zarrin-Mehr, his son from…
There have been many changes since my article on the U.K. Inheritance tax (“IHT“) applying to a Canadian resident. Indeed, we’ve seen a Spring U.K. budget introducing an overhaul of the U.K. resident non-domiciled individuals (“non-doms“) regime, a U.K. election bringing a new government and another Autumn budget. It has…
The blog post, Why You Need a POA When You Are Alive, explored the importance of appointing Powers of Attorney for Property and for Personal Care. While a Will may anchor an estate plan for distributing assets after you have passed, you will need a substitute decision-maker in place if…
This blog has been written by Pritika Deepak, Associate at Fasken LLP. My peer, Robin Ellis, and I recently spoke at the Ontario Bar Association on the topic of important considerations when drafting powers of attorney (“POAs”) in Ontario. Preparing for this presentation was an excellent exercise as it served…
Some of you may have read the article written by my colleague, Demetre Vasilounis, back in June of this year about Valve’s incredibly popular game distribution platform, Steam. The platform is selling their games as licences, not as owned games, much to the surprise of the gaming community. This was…
Justice David M. Brown recently released a paper entitled, “THE FIVE HABITS OF HIGHLY EFFECTIVE AND ACCESSIBLE CIVIL COURTS: TRANSPARENCY; PERSPICACITY; CREATIVITY; SIMPLICITY; AND ACCOUNTABILITY – Reflections at the end of a judicial career”. The paper summaries the key lessons Justice Brown has learned throughout his career on the Bench….
Andrew Coates, Associate, Gowling (WLG) Canada In April, I wrote an article about the Canada Revenue Agency’s (the “CRA”) 11th hour reversal on requiring bare trusts to file T3 returns and Schedule 15s because of the confusion of Canadians and tax professionals alike in answering the question: is this a…
This week, like many law firms in Toronto, Fasken participated in the annual 2L student recruitment process. I had the opportunity to meet many wonderful students, all with impressive backgrounds and bright futures ahead. I was asked by many of the students about my practice, and what I enjoyed most…
Exculpatory clauses or indemnity clauses in wills and trusts are common forms of protection provided to the trustees by testators and settlors. When a trustee is appointed under a testamentary or inter vivos trust document to administer and manage an estate or a trust, some consider it to be an…
In Gomes v Da Silva, 2024 ONCA 792 (“Gomes”), the Ontario Court of Appeal addressed the importance of bringing a claim for the recovery of real property within the ten-year limitation period set out under section 4 of the Real Property Limitations Act, RSO 1990, c L15 (the “RPLA”). Background…