Steven Frye

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Baker Tilly WM LLP is a leading, independent audit, tax, and business advisory firm based in Vancouver and Toronto, serving clients across Canada. Drawing on well-trained teams across a variety of disciplines, we ensure the alignment of our professional’s skills and experience with client requirements, resulting in exceptional service and business outcomes.

Donation Shelters: A Tale of Financial Misadventure

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Due to my conservative nature and my belief that something that looks too good to be true often is, I have been always nervous about people participating in what appear to be very aggressive charitable donation shelters and people who promote them, particularly shelters which appear to catch the attention of the Canada Revenue Agency (“CRA”) from inception. Recently, I read about a case about a taxpayer who participated in….

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Canada Revenue Agency, Estate Planning, In the News, Philanthropy/Charitable Giving, Tax Issues, Uncategorized

PLANNING AND ESTATE PLANNING FOR THE DISPOSITION OF REAL ESTATE

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I am in the middle of a very difficult Canada Revenue Agency audit of a taxpayer’s claim for the principal residence exemption. It now appears the property in question,  built by my client some 25 years ago may not qualify for the full exemption due to the fact that the taxpayer may have held other properties, which he also built, in the intervening periods which may or not have been….

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Canada Revenue Agency, Costs, Cottage, Estate Administration, Estate Planning, Investments, Property, Real Estate, Tax Issues, Uncategorized

Where’s There is a Will (and a Clear One), There is a Way!

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In Campbell v Evert 2018 ONSC 593, the deceased had, in the decade prior to her passing, transferred to Mr. Evert (one of the “kids”) the family cottage valued at $145,000. In her will later that year,  she made a specific bequest of $145,000 to Ms. Campbell, the other “kid’, which was consistent with the value of the cottage at that time. Several years later and prior to her passing,….

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Contested wills, Estate Administration, Estate Administration and Probate Applications, Executors, Property, Real Estate, Testamentary Capacity, Trusts, Uncategorized, Wills

Estate Trustees and Costs of Litigation: Try not to take it personally?

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In the work I do, I am asked to provide expert testimony to support litigation. In some cases, I am often quite surprised to what extent parties will continue to litigate matters that appear to be “no-wins” or for small dollar amounts. Depending on the circumstances, parties have taken the personal brunt of litigation costs that may far exceed the amount in question, due primarily to their own intransigence. A….

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Attorney Compensation, Contested wills, Costs, Estate Administration, Executors, Family Conflict, Liability, Property, Trustee, Trustee Disputes, Uncategorized, Wills

PENSION PLAN LUMP SUM PAYOUTS

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This fact scenario is based on a situation presented to me recently and I appreciated the opportunity to being “re-educated” on the tax treatment of pension plan lump sum payments. A taxpayer’s spouse retires as a teacher and elects to start receiving her guaranteed pension. A couple of year later, the spouse passes away from cancer and the taxpayer being the beneficiary of his spouse’s pension plan elects to receive….

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Canada Revenue Agency, Estate Administration, In the News, Tax Issues, Uncategorized, Wills

Business Succession Planning and the Next Generation

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All business owners face the task of trying to determine what to do with their businesses when they retire or in the event of a sudden death: sell to the next generation, sell to a 3rd party or sell the assets and wind-up the business. According to the Canadian Federation of Business, only about half of business owners have a succession plan. Not having a plan can create a lot….

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Business Succession Planning, Estate Planning, In the News, Small Business, Succession Planning
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