April 2023

Jam Needs a Plan: Estate Planning for Pets

A dog in a red sweater sitting on autumn leaves.

Estate planning for pets has made for some very wealthy animals. Remember the US hotel heiress Leona Hemsley? Known as the Queen of Mean, she left $12 million out of her estimated $5 billion estate to her Maltese lap dog, Trouble. The dog’s inheritance was reduced to $2 million, but still. That was more than enough for the $100,000 spent on Trouble’s care each year. Today’s richest dog is the….

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Elder Care, Elder Management, Estate Planning, Smart Ageing

Cremation and the Burial or Scattering of Ashes – Things to Consider

I am an avid reader and always learn something new, even when reading for pleasure. The novel I recently finished, Cold, Cold Bones, by Kathy Reichs was no exception. This is the paragraph that piqued my interest: “A woman in Mount Holly was struck by a falling object while wrapping burlap around shrubs in her yard. The object was a small sack. The woman opened the sack. Inside were charred….

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Estate Administration, Estate Planning, Executors, Funeral Planning, Wills

Executors: Beware of the Risks

This Blog was written by: Alicia Mossington (Godin), Estate and Trust Consultant, Scotia Wealth Management  An estate trustee, also known as an executor, is responsible for administering the estate of the deceased and carrying out the terms of the Will (or other testamentary documentation). The recent article by Rebecca Studin titled “Pass Your Accounts, or Risk Jail Time” led me to think about the consequences of acting (or failing to act)….

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Courts, Estate Litigation, Executors

What Happens to the Residue of an Estate when a Life Tenant Survives all other Beneficiaries?

In a recent British Columbia case, the court was asked to interpret the residue clause of a will. The testator’s wife held a life interest in the Estate’s property and was a beneficiary of an ongoing testamentary trust. However, both her stepchildren (and presumed receipients of the residue of the Estate) predeceased her. Background  The testator died in 1979.  He was survived by his second wife (Marion), his adult son….

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Estate Litigation, Wills

Home is Where You Hang Your Hat- or is it?

Retirement accommodation can be costly.  I have written about the cost of remaining at home with 24 hour care ( $35/hr on average in Canada), I have written about NORCs and sharing the caring and I have written about retirement residences and long term care homes. CTV News had an interesting story about retiring on  a cruise ship. In the article, they list the pros, which include: traveling- seeing different….

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Elder Care

Don’t Forget the T1141s and T1142s!

Today’s Blog was written by Rahul Sharma, Partner, Fasken LLP, Toronto My last blog post was very early in the year.  In that post, I outlined — and generally responded to — certain common questions posed by newcomers to Canada.  As the year progresses, Canada continues to draw in large numbers of immigrants (with many more arrivals anticipated in the coming years).  For many newcomers, their first or second Canadian….

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Canada Revenue Agency, Canadian and US Tax Treaty, International, Tax Issues, Trusts, U.S. Citizen, Uncategorized, United States
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