January 2025

When Inheritance Divides: The Strain of Sibling Disputes Over Estate Debts

This blog post was written by Mohena Singh, Associate at Fasken LLP. An important question a person has to answer when planning their estate is, “who will be the estate trustee?” Sometimes this decision is taken lightly or a person may gravitate towards an obvious answer – “my spouse” or “my children”. What may seem like an easy decision can become costly and delay the administration of the estate if….

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Estate Administration, Family Conflict, Trustee, Trustee Disputes

Key Considerations When Drafting a Will with International Assets

If you have clients with assets outside Canada, they likely look to you for guidance to support drafting of testamentary documents. In a previous article we explored the considerations that should be kept in mind when assets are owned outside of Quebec, within Canada – given the civil law and common law differences. However, even if the testator has assets in multiple common law or civil law jurisdictions, estate and….

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Estate Planning, Executors, International, Property, Real Estate

In Care of Yvette Poirier v. Estate of Paul Poirier, 2025 ONSC 0482, the Court considered an application to set aside the conveyance of a home from a mother to her son , on the basis that the mother lacked capacity and was subject to undue influence. In an unusual set of facts, the daughter who sought to set aside the conveyance had originally agreed to the transfer in question….

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Uncategorized

The Foreign Corporation on Death – Where Do We Start?

A hand holds a red puzzle piece over grey pieces on a table.

When an entrepreneur dies owning shares or an interest in a foreign corporation, the executor is faced with a challenging situation.  An estate with ownership or an interest in a foreign corporation raises specific and complex tax rules that leave the executor and family members hoping the deceased has a well-organized tax and estate plan in place. Where to start? The executor needs to be proactive. First, it needs to….

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Estate Administration, Estate Planning, Executors, International, Tax Issues

Simplifying Estate Vehicle Transfers in Ontario: What You Need to Know

Today’s blog was written by Jessica Butler, Law Clerk at Fasken LLP. When administering an estate, certain assets frequently come into play: bank accounts, a home, and often, at least one personal vehicle. While a Will typically outlines the transfer of a vehicle to a specific beneficiary, there are instances where the vehicle becomes part of the estate’s residue. There is a wealth of information available online about this topic,….

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Costs, Estate Administration, Executors, Property

Canadians are living longer, Estate Planning considerations

Canadians are living longer. Current life expectancy is approximately 83 years.[1] This number has been steadily increasing annually and is expected to continue to do so[2]. One of the questions in the trivia game Outsmarted[3] played over the holidays was: “Approximately how many people over the age of 100 live in Canada?” The game’s answer was 11,500. While this number shocked the players, it is in line with what Statistics….

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Estate Planning
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