Clients’ Reign And The Associated Difficulties In Drafting Their Inter Vivos Trusts

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Imagine being retained to draft an inter vivos trust for the queen, Cersei Lannister, of Game of Thrones.  Cercei is a protective mother dedicated to maintaining power for herself and her family, which dedication includes succession planning for her power and wealth.  Cercei’s instructions may include drafting the trust so that she retains as much control as possible.  Cercei likely is unaware that pushing the control button too far can….

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Trusts

Video Conferencing Courtroom Etiquette – Three Simple Steps

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This Blog was written by Emily Racine, Estate and Trust Consultant with Scotia Wealth Management These days we are all finding creative ways of adapting our lives to the new normal. COVID-19 has changed the landscape of all businesses, including the legal profession. With social distancing rules in place, and likely to continue into the foreseeable future, the legal profession has, like most businesses, turned to online video conferencing and….

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Courts, In the News

Locating Unknown or Missing Heirs to an Estate

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How should an estate trustee proceed when they cannot identify or locate all of the heirs to an estate? In some cases, a challenge arises where a will does not identify the beneficiaries by name, but by class or some other description. For example, a will may leave the residue of the estate to the testator’s “nieces and nephews” without specifically naming them. Where a deceased died without a will,….

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Contested wills, Courts, Estate Administration, Estate Administration and Probate Applications, Estate Litigation, Executors, Family Conflict

ON A PAPER NAPKIN, DID YOU SAY?

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The Queen’s Bench for Saskatchewan was recently asked (in the case of Gust vs. Langan et al., 2020 SKQB 42) whether a will handwritten on a paper napkin created by the deceased sometime before his death met the requirements of being a valid will under the relevant Act to permit it to be accepted as a valid holograph will.  The Court had to decide whether the will met the test….

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Contested wills, Courts, Estate Administration, Estate Litigation, Family Conflict, Property, Wills

Crisis in LTC: Worse Than We Imagined

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On May 26, 2020 the most horrible report detailing conditions at several Long Term Care facilities written by the Canadian Armed Forces was released. The Army was asked to assist in the five LTCs in Ontario that had a very high death rate. They included: Orchard Villa (Pickering); Altamont (Scarborough); Eatonville (Etobicoke); Hawthorne (North York) and Holland Christian (Brampton). The report detailed appalling conditions including suspected abuse, filth,  bug infestation,  lack….

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Elder Care, In the News

The Effect that Covid-19 is having on Administering Estates

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Today’s blog is being brought to you by guest blogger, Jennifer Campbell, a law clerk in the Private Client Services group of Fasken LLP. I, like many of my colleagues, have been working from home for what feels like an eternity now.  While I’m used to working remotely a couple of days a week, I don’t have to convince others who are now working remotely five days a week that….

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Estate Administration
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