Limitation Periods and Testamentary Disputes: Lessons from Recent Ontario Case Law

• • 0 Comments

Article Written by: Ashley Thornton, Articling Student at Gowling WLG Recent decisions from the Ontario Superior Court of Justice and the Ontario Court of Appeal have shed light on when limitation periods begin to run in the context of different types of estate litigation. From professional negligence by estate lawyers, to the discoverability of testamentary documents, and the appropriate limitation periods for unjust enrichment claims against an estate, these rulings….

Limitation Periods and Testamentary Disputes: Lessons from Recent Ontario Case Law Continue Reading »

Appeals, Estate Litigation

Taxation of Employee Stock Options on Death

• • 0 Comments

In Canada, it is not uncommon for employers to grant stock options to employees as a form of compensation, notably in technology and startup sectors. These stock options provide employees the right to purchase company stocks at a predetermined price, often referred to as the “exercise price.” What are the tax implications of these stock options when the employee dies while holding unexercised stock options? The tax treatment on death….

Taxation of Employee Stock Options on Death Continue Reading »

Succession Planning, Tax Issues, US Taxes, valuation

Hospital Discharge Planning for Family Members

• • 2 Comments
Hospital Discharge Planning Framework for Families of Elderly People with Complex Needs

Increasingly, families are struggling with hospital discharges, especially for elderly persons with complex care needs. The primary reason is that transition planning is not sufficiently planned for or considered. Before you agree to any discharge for a family member, you must first understand what a high-quality transition plan looks like. In a previous blog post, Families Struggling with Hospital Discharges, we outlined the Ontario Health quality standards for discharge planning…..

Hospital Discharge Planning for Family Members Continue Reading »

Elder Management, Healthcare, Smart Ageing

The Letter of Wishes: A Personal Touch to your Estate Plan

• • 1 Comment

Today’s blog was written by Courtney Lanthier, Law Clerk at Fasken LLP. As estate planning legal professionals, we sometimes lose sight of how difficult and confusing reading a Will can be, often full of “legalese” and sentences that seem to go on forever. An executor reading the will may not fully grasp what it is they are meant to do and how to make the difficult decisions they are asked….

The Letter of Wishes: A Personal Touch to your Estate Plan Continue Reading »

Estate Planning, Trusts, Wills

When Private Foundations Die

• • 0 Comments

Pieter Claesz, “Vanitas Still Life” 1630. Private foundations are believed to be durable entities.  Perpetuity is often assumed at the planning stage.  Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) data shows, however, that 3,073 private foundations closed during the period 2000 to 2025. Growth in Private Foundations Private foundations have seen significant growth in Canada, with an increase in assets of over 300% in the last 20 years to over $100 billion in….

When Private Foundations Die Continue Reading »

Estate Donations, Estate Planning, Philanthropy/Charitable Giving

The Threshold of Decision-Making Capacity

• • 0 Comments

In my capacity evaluation work, my clients (who are mostly lawyers) occasionally suggest that if I have already assessed that a decision maker has testamentary capacity, then I need not evaluate whether the decision-maker has capacity to appoint a power of attorney (POA) for property.  The reasoning is that because the threshold for testamentary capacity is higher than any other legal decision-making activity, if the decision-maker has testamentary capacity, then….

The Threshold of Decision-Making Capacity Continue Reading »

Uncategorized
Scroll to Top