February 2019

Senior Man Falls Victim to Online Romance Scam

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Romance scams are among the top reported scams based on total dollar loss, and seniors are particularly susceptible to these types of scams. Unfortunately, the late Robert Hogg fell victim to a romance scam, which was not discovered until after his death. The facts can be found in the CBC News article, but essentially the story goes as follows: Mr. Hogg, a widow in his mid-60’s who was diagnosed with cancer,….

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Elder Care

Estate donations, Time and Flexibility

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Last week I visited Princess Margaret Cancer Centre in Toronto for a grant status update meeting with a family foundation. I used to work at the Princess Margaret Cancer Foundation, but left 20 years ago. Returning after two decades provided me perspective on two key charitable estate planning considerations: time and flexibility. The Cancer Centre and the treatment of cancer has changed massively since I worked there. An obvious sign….

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Charitable Giving, Estate Donations, Estate Planning, Philanthropy/Charitable Giving, Uncategorized

Supreme Court Blesses Henson Trusts

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The Supreme Court of Canada has given its blessing to Henson Trusts (fully discretionary trusts set up to not impact the beneficiary’s social assistance benefits) in S.A. v. Metro Vancouver Housing Corp., 2019 SCC 4. I previously blogged about this case when it was before the Court of Appeal. The Metro Vancouver Housing Corporation (the “Landlord”) provides affordable rental housing in Vancouver.   The Landlord requires prospective tenants to provide evidence….

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Estate Litigation, Estate Planning, Trusts

Estate Applied to Have Filings Made by Taxpayer Lacking Mental Capacity Set Aside

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In Ntakos Estate v. The Queen, 2018 TCC 224, a family business was owned by the deceased taxpayer, Anna (after her husband passed away in 1995) with two brothers-in-law through a holding corporation. Anna’s mental and physical health declined from 1995 until her death in 2004. She was diagnosed in 2002 with cancer, and apparently lacked mental capacity after that date. In 2003, the accountant for the family business got….

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Canada Revenue Agency, Capacity Law, Estate Administration, Family Conflict, Investments, Property, Small Business, Spouse, Tax Issues, Testamentary Capacity, Uncategorized

Difficult Conversations: With Our Children

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All of the writers (and presumably the readers as well) know the importance of having their ‘important paper’ work completed. For me, most importantly this means completing Powers of Attorney for both Property and Personal care as well as Advanced Care Directives. For you, perhaps the ‘most importantly’ may be the Will, but regardless we can all agree that these are all key documents for living (and for dying) well…..

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Power of Attorney, Wills

A Cautionary Crypto-Tale

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My fellow blogger Maureen Berry and colleague Demetre Vasilounis, Student-at-Law, recently blogged about a form of digital assets that has received limited treatment in Canadian estate law commentary, namely digital assets that continue to generate revenue after the death of the owner, such as the YouTube and Twitch “Partner” programs. To the above we can now add a further consideration to the world of estate planning for digital assets, that….

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