Malcolm Burrows

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Malcolm is a philanthropic advisor with over 30 years of experience. He is head, philanthropic advisory services at Scotia Wealth Management and founder of Aqueduct Foundation. Views are his own. malcolm.burrows@scotiawealth.com

Better Life Insurance Donations

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Recently I received an inquiry from a life insurance advisor about a client who wished to establish a policy and donate it to two charities.  My colleague wanted to know if this was possible.  In my experience it is possible, but not the best way to do it. Donation Structures in Canada there are two basic ways to donate using life insurance. A donor makes the charity owner and beneficiary….

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Insurance, Philanthropy/Charitable Giving, Uncategorized

The Decline of Churches

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[caption id="attachment_17878" align="aligncenter" width="614"] The Hazlet Lutheran Church, northwest of Swift Current, Sask., sat empty for nearly 25 years until two friends, Lindsay Alliban and Erin McKnight, bought it in 2016 and converted it into a live music space. (Katie Toney via CBC)[/caption] Organized religion has been the bedrock of the Canadian charitable sector.  When charities were first required to register federally in 1967, over 60% of organizations were religious….

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Estate Planning, Philanthropy/Charitable Giving, Uncategorized

Wine and Estates Revisited

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When I last wrote about wine and estates it was 2019. A distant epoch. The Canadian situation has changed dramatically since then. Not only have I been drinking more and better wine (I’m not alone), but the secondary wine market has changed. It’s more liquid, if you will. This is helpful to wine collectors and executors. What’s Changed? The pandemic lock downs of 2020 disrupted long-held, post-prohibition rules around wine….

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Estate Administration, Estate Planning, Philanthropy/Charitable Giving, Uncategorized

Name That Charity!

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“Name That Charity” sounds like a failed 1960s game show. Instead, it is an approach to estate planning that paradoxically may discourage charitable giving. This is an observation made by Kathy Hawkesworth of the Edmonton Community Foundation in a recent presentation to the Society of Estate and Trust Practitioner (STEP). Kathy’s point is financial advisors and estate lawyers often put their clients on the spot. Do they have charitable interests?….

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Charitable Giving, Estate Donations, Estate Planning, Philanthropy/Charitable Giving, Uncategorized

Estate Donations of Private Company Shares

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One of the concerns about the “estate donation” rules when they were introduced in 2016 is illiquid property would be harder to donate and administer. Perhaps the most challenging type of illiquid property is private company shares. Five years of experience with the system has validated some concerns and produced planning solutions. Pre-2016 The “estate donation” rules, which were introduced alongside the graduate rate estate regime, are a significant departure….

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Estate Donations, Estate Planning, Philanthropy/Charitable Giving

Restricted Charitable Bequests

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One the biggest trends in philanthropy of the last thirty-years is the rise of donor-directed or restricted giving.  Donors want more control, which typically results in more restrictions being placed on gifts. But there are risks of placing restrictions on a charitable gift by will. Failure and Cy Pres Simply, a restricted gift will fail if the charity is unable to honour the restriction. In Canada, the recourse is to….

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Estate Donations, Estate Planning, Philanthropy/Charitable Giving, Uncategorized
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