What Happens to the Residue of an Estate when a Life Tenant Survives all other Beneficiaries?

In a recent British Columbia case, the court was asked to interpret the residue clause of a will. The testator’s wife held a life interest in the Estate’s property and was a beneficiary of an ongoing testamentary trust. However, both her stepchildren (and presumed receipients of the residue of the Estate) predeceased her. Background  The testator died in 1979.  He was survived by his second wife (Marion), his adult son….

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Estate Litigation, Wills

Home is Where You Hang Your Hat- or is it?

Retirement accommodation can be costly.  I have written about the cost of remaining at home with 24 hour care ( $35/hr on average in Canada), I have written about NORCs and sharing the caring and I have written about retirement residences and long term care homes. CTV News had an interesting story about retiring on  a cruise ship. In the article, they list the pros, which include: traveling- seeing different….

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Elder Care

Don’t Forget the T1141s and T1142s!

Today’s Blog was written by Rahul Sharma, Partner, Fasken LLP, Toronto My last blog post was very early in the year.  In that post, I outlined — and generally responded to — certain common questions posed by newcomers to Canada.  As the year progresses, Canada continues to draw in large numbers of immigrants (with many more arrivals anticipated in the coming years).  For many newcomers, their first or second Canadian….

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Canada Revenue Agency, Canadian and US Tax Treaty, International, Tax Issues, Trusts, U.S. Citizen, Uncategorized, United States

Artist Inventory and Estate Donations

[caption id="attachment_20100" align="aligncenter" width="658"] James Wilson Morrice, The Regatta, c. 1902-1907, oil on panel, 23.4 x 32.8 cm. Gift of A.K. Prakash, J.W. Morrice Collection, 2015, National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa. Photo: NGC[/caption] In estates, the tax rules governing professional artists and their art are both enabling and complex.  On the enabling side of the ledger, art is treated as inventory for tax purposes, which means works can have a….

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Uncategorized

Pass Your Accounts, Or Risk Jail Time

In the Estate of Nordby, 2023 ONSC 821, an executor was committed to prison for contempt of court for breaching a court order to pass accounts. Facts:  Jennifer Lynn Nordby died on January 23, 2013. Her Will appointed her father, Harold Nordby, as estate trustee and named her two children, one of whom was a minor, as beneficiaries. Mr. Norby obtained probate on October 30, 2013. The value of the….

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Uncategorized

Genuine intergenerational transfers

For many years, non-arm’s length intergenerational transfers of corporate businesses were treated inequitably under the Income Tax Act (ITA).  A transfer of a corporate business between non-arm’s length parties[1] resulted in dividend treatment to the vendor instead of capital gains treatment, precluding the ability to claim the capital gains deduction.  With the inability to claim the capital gains deduction and the loss of the preferential tax treatment for capital gains,….

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Succession Planning
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