October 2025 – Page 2 – All About Estates

Who Should Be Your Executor in Ontario? Avoiding Conflict and Ensuring Good Governance

Gowling WLG LLP • October 21, 2025 • 0 Comments

Ashley Thornton, articling student and Maddi Thomas, associate of Gowling WLG (Canada) LLP Choosing your executor (also called an estate trustee in Ontario) is one of the most consequential decisions you will make in the estate planning process. It’s not – or shouldn’t be – about rank in the family, or feelings. Rather, it is about appointing a person who is competent, neutral, trustworthy, and willing to carry out your….

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Executors, Wills

Why Can’t I Get My Parent into a Long-Term Care Home Right Away?

Susan J. Hyatt • October 20, 2025 • 2 Comments

When planning ahead, most older people will say they want to stay in their own home until the end of life. While this may be their goal, the reality is that care needs can escalate rapidly and become more complex, requiring specialized caregivers. Depending on the resources available to pay for caregivers, the breakpoint for decision-making is often twofold: the ability to manage multiple service providers in the home and….

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Does the Presumption of Advancement Apply to Joint Bank Accounts with a Common-Law Spouse?

Tamar Silverbrook • October 17, 2025 • 1 Comment

The addition of a common-law partner as a joint owner of a bank account with a right of survivorship may give rise to initial uncertainty as to whether the arrangement constitutes a gift. While such a designation may appear to be a gratuitous transfer, the presumption of advancement does not apply to a common law spouse added onto a joint account, even if there is a right of survivorship. If….

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Estate Administration, Estate Planning, Spouse, Wills

Estate Donations of Art

Malcolm Burrows • October 16, 2025 • 0 Comments

[caption id="attachment_21746" align="aligncenter" width="666"] Decisions, Decisions, Charles Pachter (Courtesy of Heffel Auctions)[/caption] Fine art is an asset class of growing importance among the affluent and is beginning to be a significant part of select estate plans. A recent estimate pegged the international art market at US$57.5 billion in 2024 (a 12% decline from 2023) and Canada has seen some record prices at auction. Many collectors are contemplating donating their art….

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Estate Donations, Estate Planning, Philanthropy/Charitable Giving

Farm Succession – The Numbers Are Telling

Sebastien Desmarais • October 14, 2025 • 0 Comments

At least once in your life you’ll need a doctor, a lawyer and a preacher. But every day, three times a day, you need a farmer (Brenda Schoepp). Farming plays a pivotal role in our economy as it fulfills our basic daily necessities and it is in everyone’s interest that our Canadian farms continue to prosper in the future. According to the Statistics Canada 2021 Census of Agriculture (the “Census”)[1] There….

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Business Succession Planning, Family Conflict

Young, Married, and Prepared: A First Experience with Wills and POAs

Betty Laidlaw • October 10, 2025 • 1 Comment

As we head into Thanksgiving weekend, I am sharing a guest post written by my son. Earlier this year, he and his partner celebrated a beautiful wedding surrounded by family and friends. Like many life milestones, it prompted some important conversations about their future together, including what would happen if something unexpected occurred. In this post, he shares his experience with estate planning as a newlywed, and the process of….

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Estate Planning, Power of Attorney, Spouse, Wills