July 2014

The Globe and Mail’s ‘Public Editor’, Ms. Sylvia Stead, wrote a piece in the July 26, 2014 Saturday paper called ‘When capturing a life in a few hundred words, try to avoid mistakes’. Good advice. I have been reading obits for the last few decades and I would say they have changed over the years. There seem to be more pictures than previously, sometimes showing a younger person and at….

Many people believe that a Power of Attorney for Personal Care is the proper tool in which to express their intention to donate organs.  Is this correct?  If so, does this mean that an attorney for personal care may be granted the authority to make decisions regarding the grantor’s organ donation? In Canada, organ donation is an “opt-in” regime, and in Ontario, it is governed by the Trillium Gift of….

In 21 x 3, I wrote about three, sometimes tricky, trust rules:  the 21-year deemed dispositon rule; the rule against accumulations; and, the rule against perpetuities.  Following the post, I realized I had not been specific enough when a reader – esteemed charitable foundation advisor and former colleague, David Windeyer – questioned whether the rule against perpetuities applies to charitable trusts.  Instead of simply answering David directly with a “not really”,….

Recently the Canada Revenue Agency (“CRA”) was asked whether income allocated by a communal organization and reported as self employment earnings for CPP eligibility on a trust income tax slip (T3 slip) is considered “working” income for the recipient to claim the Working Income Tax Benefit (“WITB”). CRA responded that the Income Tax Act generally defines income from a Trust to be income from a property and not any other….

This will be my last blog for ‘All About Estates’ as I have made the decision to return to my home province of British Columbia and I will be moving from Toronto to Vancouver in August. I have very much enjoyed being part of this blog – I think that it is an excellent source of information for those engaged directly or peripherally in the estates field. Although each of….