John Oakey – Page 3 – All About Estates

The evolution of trust drafting

John Oakey • June 28, 2022 • 0 Comments

A trust indenture established today looks nothing like a trust indenture established 10 or 20 years ago. The evolution of trust drafting, and the rigid legalese once used for trusts has given way to language that better anticipates the myriad of potential scenarios typically faced by today’s clients. This evolution in trust language is most noticeable when reviewing the modern beneficiary clauses. Evolution of trust language Trusts have always contained….

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A family trust and its beneficiaries – think twice before including your niece or nephew

John Oakey • May 3, 2022 • 0 Comments

Discretionary family trusts used to be a staple in most private company corporate structures. The income splitting benefits were obvious, and professionals were more than happy to implement a family trust in almost any corporate structure. The popularity of using family trusts eventually led to complacency from some professionals in understanding the detailed tax rules that applied to implementing those trusts. In the earlier years of drafting trust documents, professionals….

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Canada Revenue Agency, Tax Issues, Trusts

Crypto assets – Canadian or foreign – it matters!

John Oakey • April 5, 2022 • 2 Comments

Crypto assets are intangible digital assets that exist on a decentralized network through distributed ledger technology (DLT) – such as blockchain. A distributed ledger is a type of database that stores electronic records shared and replicated across many locations in numerous countries and maintained by a peer-to-peer world-wide decentralized network. Therefore, the crypto asset is not exclusively situated in any particular country making it difficult for the taxpayer and professionals….

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Estate Administration, Tax Issues

Bare trusts – we have to do what now?

John Oakey • March 8, 2022 • 2 Comments

On February 4, 2022, exactly 1,438 days after the original draft legislation was introduced in the 2018 Federal Budget, the Department of Finance (Finance) released revised draft legislation[1] for beneficial ownership reporting for trusts. This revised draft legislation contained two significant changes: Effective date was changed to taxation years that end after December 30, 2022; and Bare trusts[2] and arrangements are now specifically included Given that the original draft legislation….

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Trusts

Preferred shares – Liability or equity?

John Oakey • February 8, 2022 • 0 Comments

There has been significant debate over the years regarding the financial statement presentation of redeemable or mandatorily retractable shares (RoMRS) as either a liability or equity. First, a bit of background When Accounting Standards for Private Enterprises (ASPE) were issued in 2011, it was determined that RoMRS should continue to be recorded at par, stated or assigned value in a separate component of equity. An amendment to ASPE reporting of….

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Estate Planning

Designating a successor for the TFSA

John Oakey • January 11, 2022 • 1 Comment

Designating the surviving spouse or common-law partner as the successor holder of the Tax Free Savings Account “TFSA” simplifies the administration of transferring the account upon the death of the decedent. A successor holder may only be a spouse or common-law partner. All provinces and territories in Canada, except Quebec, recognize the designation of a successor holder of a TFSA in the contract itself although the designation can also be….

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Succession Planning