January 2026

Gifting personal effects: a useful (and heartwarming) planning strategy

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Lately, I’ve found myself having in-depth conversations with some of my older clients about what will happen to their personal effects after they pass away. Many of these clients express the same concerns: they don’t want their beneficiaries to fight over their belongings after their death, they don’t want to burden their families with difficult decisions about what to do with these possessions, they are concerned that their families won’t….

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Estate Planning, Family Conflict, Wills

Why Estate Administration Now Feels Like a Never-Ending Series

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Scotiatrust

This blog post was written by: Dave Madan, Senior Manager, Scotiatrust If you have ever watched a true crime documentary or investigative series, you know the familiar structure. A death sets the story in motion. A Will appears. Family members gather, each with their own questions, assumptions, and expectations. By the end of the episode, the mystery is resolved and the estate seems to fall neatly into place before the….

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Estate Administration, Estate Administration and Probate Applications

The Interplay between a Will executed outside of Ontario and a subsequent Codicil executed in Ontario

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It is not uncommon for a person to execute their last will and testament many years, even decades, before they eventually pass away. It is also not uncommon for a person to move provinces, states, countries, etc. throughout their adult lifetime. In the estates context, that may result in various different scenarios in which related testamentary documents are executed in different jurisdictions. For example, a person may execute a will….

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Uncategorized

New Year Reflections On Longevity

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Happy New Year 2026

Pausing to reflect on this new year ahead, I’m grateful for this collaborative group of professionals at All About Estates who blog daily on estate planning matters. The purpose of the All About Estates blog is to provide fellow specialists and the general public with information and resources related to our bloggers’ areas of expertise. And as a group, we have a diverse set of experiences to share with our….

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Elder Management, Smart Ageing

Estate Freezes and a Spouse’s ILA

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Estate freezes can raise important questions—like whether the freezor’s spouse should seek independent legal advice (“ILA”). This blog unpacks why that recommendation matters. Estate Freeze Consider the following estate freeze, which intentionally is explained in a “bare bones” manner. A spouse (“Freezor”) is exchanging their common shares in a Canadian controlled private corporation (“Family Corp.”) for fixed value preference shares. A new discretionary family trust is settled for the benefit….

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Interest, Separation, Spouse, Succession Planning, Trustee, Trusts
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