July 2016

Parenticide Prevents a Beneficiary from Receiving Under a Will

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Last year, a son was accused of murdering his parents in Connecticut after they threatened to take him out of their will. There have been a handful of cases over the past century in Canada with similar tragic circumstances. The long established rule in Canada (known as the “slayer rule” in the United States) is that a beneficiary cannot receive a gift from a will if the beneficiary murdered the….

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Estate Litigation

THE PREFERRED BENEFICIARY ELECTION

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In my last blog I noted that at the recent STEP conference, representatives of the Canada Revenue Agency confirmed that the introduction of the new qualified disability trust (“QDT”) rules had not restricted the ability to use the preferred beneficiary election, provided the requirements for the preferred beneficiary election are otherwise met. In this blog I will outline in more detail the elements of the preferred beneficiary election. The definition….

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Estate Planning

When Business Agreements Masquerade as Trusts

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Trusts are tricky – they can arise in circumstances where none of the parties involved ever use the word “trust.” There is good reason for this; often the settlor of the trust and the trustee are laypeople who can describe the type of relationship they wish to create, but are unaware of the legal terms to describe it. If a lawyer does become involved, she will likely set the terms….

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Trustee, Trusts
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