November 2019

Transferring Wealth During Your Lifetime

I was reading recently that approximately $30-trillion in assets will be shifting from one generation to the next across North America in the next few decades, according to consulting firm Accenture. A couple of years ago, I wrote about gifting cash or assets during one’s lifetime as an alternative method of distributing your wealth and possibly avoid taxes at time of death. Though there is no inheritance tax in Canada….

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Business Succession Planning, Estate Planning, Investments, Loans, Philanthropy/Charitable Giving, Probate Tax, Real Estate, Succession Planning, Tax Issues, Trusts, Uncategorized

Is a cane an ‘enabler’ or a ‘disabler’? What is your point of view?

I work with many seniors who prefer not to use the assistive devices that are prescribed/recommended for their safety and well being. In particular, the use of a cane and the use of a walker seem to viewed by many as an unnecessary attachment and an ‘aging’ device. I feel it is important to recognize these mobility aids as an ‘enabler’ rather than a ‘disabler’. For someone who is unable….

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Elder Care

You Are No Longer Welcome To Visit Your Mom or Dad

There was a recent CBC news article dated Nov 23 2019  that reported the Trespass to Property Act was being used to keep family members from speaking out about poor conditions in retirement and long term care facilities. The article shared the story of a daughter who was banned from visiting her mother in an Ottawa retirement residence because she believed the home was ‘trying to silence her from advocating….

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Elder Care

Charitable Gifts from Alter Ego Trusts

In Canada we do not have an estate tax. Rather, when an individual dies the individual is deemed to have disposed of his or her capital property immediately before death at fair market value. The deemed disposition triggers the realization of any accrued but unrealized capital gains. As a result, the income tax liability in the year of death may be higher, sometimes significantly higher, than in prior years. One….

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Trusts
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