A friend sent me this Mother’s Day greeting: “To the World You are a Mother. But to your Family You are the World!” I don’t know who wrote it, but I believe the sentiment. We all have had a mother and chances are this person shaped our lives more than…
Today’s blog was written by Demetre V. student at law. While the majority of estate planning typically revolves around how a testator should plan to take care of their loved ones after their death, a sometimes-overlooked component of estate planning involves how a testator should plan to take care of…
Sports/Estates fans, we’re in that period during the year where playoff hockey and basketball overlap with the beginning of the baseball season. A lot of questions come up for fans during this time: He’s making HOW much? How can the team get out of that guy’s contract? What would happen…
Passings of accounts can often be bitter and vicious. However, the case of Daniel Estate (Re), 2019 ONSC 2790 was a welcome “good news” alternative to the standard slugfest. Linda and Ted cared for their elderly neighbours Isabel and Wayne for over two decades. The court noted that their relationship…
When a member of an employer sponsored pension plan ceases employment, the member may receive a lump sum payment for the commuted value of their pension rights, exposing that member to a significant tax bill, as only a limited amount of the payment can be transferred to an RRSP. There…
The sun is finally shining, we are having double digit temperatures and it is the start of the week. While today’s blog topic on end of life treatment may sound like a downer, thinking, talking and preparing for it, I feel is positive. The New York Times article, ‘How to…
A charitable remainder trust is an underutilized philanthropic tool where a charity is given a future monetary benefit, while the donor receives immediate tax relief in respect of the charitable contribution. Typically, a donor irrevocably contributes property to a trust for the lifetime of a beneficiary, with a charity being…
This Blog was written by: Alicia Godin, Estate and Trust Consultant, Scotiatrust Historically the area of estates was not particularly litigious, but as families and financial circumstances become more complex, litigation involving estates has become more frequent. Frequently touted, but notoriously difficult to prove, is the allegation of someone being…
A “passing of accounts” refers to the process of formally preparing and presenting accounts to the beneficiaries and the court. The accounts are either approved (i.e., “passed”) in the form presented, amended by court order and passed in revised form, or not passed because the court is not satisfied with…