Emily Hubling

An estate planner’s clients typically express a desire to minimize taxes payable on death, including Estate Administration Tax (“probate fees”), which are payable on the value of the assets governed by a Will which is probated. For many clients, their home is their asset of most significant value. With the average price of homes in Ontario as of March 2018 at $576,950, which would give rise to probate fees of….

Clients often ask about how to best ensure their pets are cared for in their estate plans. It’s a topic this blog has covered before, from the care of commercial animals after the owner’s death, to the pitfalls in drafting clauses for the benefit of pets, to the curious case of socialite Leona Helmsley, who famously left $12 million to her dog, a bequest that was successfully challenged by her….

The Supreme Court recently released a decision that, while arising in the construction context, has important implications for estates practitioners. In the case of Valard Construction Ltd. V Bird Construction Co. (2018 SCC 8), a majority of the SCC found that, In general, wherever a beneficiary would be unreasonably disadvantaged not to be informed of a trust’s existence, the trustee’s fiduciary duty includes an obligation to disclose the existence of….