All About Estates

Month: January 2017

Total 19 Posts

7th Annual Trustee Investment Review

This is my 7th annual year end investment review for Trusts. As I have indicated in the past, Trustees are accountable for a prudent investment policy. This includes a review of the performance of the investments in the Trust. For Trusts that hold a portfolio of marketable securities, a fundamental…

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RRIF rollovers and grandchildren.

Can RRIF proceeds paid after death to a testamentary trust, and used to purchase an annuity for the deceased’s grandson, qualify for a tax deferred rollover? The Canada Revenue Agency (“CRA”) was recently asked to rule on the following set of circumstances and facts. The grandson’s parents were incapable of caring for him and he…

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Mutual Wills versus Reciprocal Wills

In the Ontario Superior Court decision, Lavoie and Trudel, 2016 ONSC 4141 (“Lavoie and Trudel”), the court was tasked with determining the validity of a will made on December 5, 2007 (the “2007 Will”) by the deceased, Lucien Trudel (“Lucien”), following his wife, Madeleine Denis’ (“Madeleine”) death.  Among the issues…

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MULTIPLE WILLS: PART 3

In this installment of my blogs on multiple wills (for probate planning) I will focus on the important issue of defining the assets that will be governed by the Primary and Secondary Wills. As in my prior blogs, I will use the term “Primary Will” to refer to the will that is intended to be probated and “Secondary Will” to refer to the will that is not intended to be probated.

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