Legacy/Death Planning Through a Cultural Lens: Insights for South Asian Families

Scotiatrust

This blog post was written by: Rafia Babar, Associate Estate and Trust Consultant, Scotiatrust Calgary   Legacy planning is not the same for every family. It is especially unique for South Asian families as it often intertwines with cultural norms, religious beliefs and deeply rooted family dynamics that differ from western culture. Understanding these cultural intricacies is essential for professionals that want to build trust and provide culturally competent services….

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Estate Planning, Wills

Removal of Estate Trustees and Costs Against them Personally

Those in the estates bar know that it is a very high test to remove an estate trustee. Courts do not lightly interfere with a testator’s choice. However, where an estate trustee is in a conflict of interest and acts in a manner that puts the proper management of the trust property at risk, the test may be met. In Muscat v. Muscat Estate, 2025 ONCA 518 (CanLII) the Ontario….

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Uncategorized

Families Struggling with Hospital Discharges

While most of us prefer to avoid the hospital, there may be times when we require acute hospital care. In Canada, we have basic insured health care coverage, which covers the cost of an acute hospital stay. However, discharge home from the hospital, especially with complex care needs, can be a story of frustration, confusion, and escalating costs with poor outcomes. In today’s overworked hospital systems, there are often long….

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Elder Management, Healthcare, Smart Ageing

Marriage Contracts: Process Over (okay, at least equal to) Substance

This blog has been written by Darren Lund, Partner at Fasken LLP.   In several of my previous blogs, I have written about marriage contracts, and why they are an important element of estate planning. From a substantive perspective, there are many reasons why these agreements are relevant and may be needed to support a comprehensive estate plan.[1] If a family business owner has implemented an estate freeze that includes….

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Estate Planning, Spouse

The US Endowment Crisis and Tudor Oligarchs

[caption id="attachment_21567" align="alignleft" width="225"] Trinity College, Oxford[/caption] Every few hundred years charitable endowments come under attack.  The Trump administration has imposed tax on the investment income of private foundations of up to 10%, up from 1.39%, as part of the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act”.  A similar bill, the Endowment Tax Fairness Act, seeks to Impose 21% tax on net income of private colleges and universities, which is equivalent to….

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Philanthropy/Charitable Giving

But WHY??

It can be frustrating when, at the end of lengthy, hard fought litigation with an even longer record a court hands down a short decision less than a page long. The parties will scrutinize the decision, reading each line of the judge’s reasons over and over again. After repeating this exercise a few times they may still come away with the question – but why?? From a policy perspective, reasons….

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Appeals, Credibility
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