In Ontario, s. 15 of the Succession Law Reform Act (the “SLRA”) provides that a Will is revoked by a subsequent marriage of the testator. Practitioners who are meeting with a client in the weeks leading up to his or her marriage will often prepare a Will that contains a statement that the Will was made “in contemplation of the marriage”, which will ‘save’ the Will from revocation by the….
This Blog was written by: Alicia Mossington (Godin), Estate and Trust Consultant, Scotia Wealth Management In December this author wrote about the common law forfeiture laws, colloquially known as “Slayer Law”, which precludes an individual from deriving a benefit from their own “morally culpable conduct.” In the context of the testator-beneficiary relationship, a beneficiary who is found to have caused the unlawful death of a testator will be deemed at common law….
The Slayer Law in Canada Part II: Beneficiaries Gone Bad Continue Reading »
Estate Litigation, In the News
Today’s blog was written by Tyler Lin, student-at-law at de VRIES LITIGATION LLP Widespread embrace of social media has brought text messages, e-mails, and postings to the forefront of evidence in criminal, civil and family law disputes. These sources are supposed to allow judges to glean insight into the life and deeds of the disputing parties. However, in this era of “fake news,” technologies have developed that make it easier….
Fake Evidence in the Era of Fake News Continue Reading »
Credibility, Estate Litigation, Family Conflict, In the News, Spouse
Use of spousal trust or common-law partner trusts Setting up a spousal or common-law partner trust is a very important decision that generally results from non-tax reasons. One of the common reasons for setting up this type of trust is to protect the surviving spouse from influencers who might try to gain access to the surviving spouse’s inherited assets. The set-up of a spousal or common-law partner trust can provide….
Bequeathing qualifying shares: to trust or not to trust Continue Reading »
Business Succession Planning, Estate Planning, Small Business, Spouse, Succession Planning, TrustsFriday, January 29, 2021 was ‘Bell Let’s Talk’ day and I forgot to tweet about it. This is very surprising for me so I am reminding those of you who might have missed it as well. Most of us are talking much more about good mental health and the toll that Covid has taken on our wellbeing. This year, Bell Canada had 159,173,435 interactions from people tweeting, calling, posting on….
More Than The Monday Blues…. Continue Reading »
In the News