August 2024

I am Ready and Willing – When do I Start? Activating a Power of Attorney for Property

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This article is written by Alicia Mossington, Estate and Trust Consultant with Scotiatrust.   A Power of Attorney for Property is a document which allows an individual (grantor) to appoint and authorize a substitute decision maker. In Ontario, the substitute decision maker is referred to as an “attorney.” The named attorney or attorneys typically have a broad scope of power and under section 7(2) of the Substitute Decisions Act (the….

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Estate Planning, Power of Attorney, Property, Uncategorized

Why Should it Come Out of My Share of the Estate?

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Often when an estate is involved in litigation to address the conduct of an uncooperative beneficiary, the other beneficiaries expect that the estate trustee’s court costs will be paid from the share of the “problem” beneficiary.  However, as lawyers like to say “it depends.” In a recent Ontario case, an estate trustee brought a court application seeking immediate access and the vacant possession of the Deceased’s house, the primary asset….

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Estate Litigation

Estate Planning and the Indian Act: Considerations for Spouses Without Indian Status

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Maddi Thomas associate Gowling WLG (Canada) LLP Estate planning presents several unique considerations for Indigenous peoples to whom the Indian Act applies: i.e., First Nation peoples who possess Indian status (“status”) and who “ordinarily reside”[1] on reserve land.[2] To be clear, while the term “Indian” may not be appropriate to use in most circumstances, the phrase still possesses legal meaning under the Indian Act as an Indigenous person “with status” and thus in certain….

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Spouse, Succession Planning, Wills

The Government of Ontario on Mental Capacity

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The Government of Ontario has a website specifically dedicated to issues concerning and relating to mental capacity (the “Website”). The Website is a place where individuals can learn more regarding mental capacity, how it is evaluated, who evaluates it, and how to appeal a finding of incapacity. Of course, these are the types of issues which are often engaged in the world of estate litigation. The Website links readers to….

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Revisiting the “Granny Trust”

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This blog has been written by Rahul Sharma, Partner, Fasken Martineau DuMoulin LLP, Toronto The world is ever-changing.  The UK non-domiciliary regime is ending, although with what appear to be potentially helpful tax measures available to new residents for a four-year period.  Certain favourable golden visa programmes in European countries are also ending or otherwise changing.  And Italy just now doubled its flat tax for ex-patriots from €100,000 to €200,000 per….

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Estate Planning, International, Tax Issues, Trusts

Estate Litigants Take Note: Interest on Litigation Loans Are Recoverable

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Litigation is not cheap.  Some litigants have little choice but to fund the litigation through loans provided by litigation lending companies.  While litigation loans may be more common in certain practice areas, such as personal injury, it is possible to obtain this type of loan for estate litigation. This is precisely what the applicant did in Drennan v Drennan, 2024 ONSC 3905 (CanLII) (“Drennan”), a recently reported decision of Justice….

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