Again and Again About the Capital Gain: Cottage Succession Planning Part 2

Scotiatrust

This blog post was written by: Derek Hambly, Estate and Trust Consultant, Scotiatrust London In part one of this post, posted on June 5th we discussed that if your cottage is not also a qualified farm or fishing property, avoiding capital gains entirely can only really be done by declaring it as your principal residence. However, in the circumstance where the cottage is not the best option to declare as….

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Cottage, Estate Planning, Tax Issues

On the Lookout: Falls in Retirement Homes

Today’s blog was written by Melissa Miller of Howie, Sacks & Henry LLP Imagine that you have a loved one in a retirement home and it’s been an unusually long time since you heard from them, or you cannot get a hold of them in the usual way. You finally pay a visit and find out that your loved one had a fall in their room and has been left….

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Elder Care

Navigating Mental Capacity and Guardianship in Ontario’s Estates Law: Lessons from Francois v. Francois, 2025 ONSC 589

By: Maddi Thomas, associate and Sukhman Sangha, articling student Gowling WLG (Canada) LLP   Mental capacity continues to be a growing area of focus in estates law. Capacity, defined under the Substitute Decisions Act, 1992 (“SDA”) as the ability to understand and appreciate decision consequences, is assessed through medical and legal evaluations. Declining capacity heightens vulnerability to financial abuse, such as unauthorized transactions or neglect by fiduciaries like guardians unaware….

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Capacity Law, Elder Care, Elder Law, Elder Management

Plan for Diminishing Capacity: Pre-dementia Financial Warning Signs

Diminishing capacity is a very complex topic. It may happen quickly or be a long, slow decline in the ability to make effective decisions. The risks can be devastating, impacting a person’s health and financial well-being. Emerging research indicates that issues managing finances could be an early warning sign of a pre-dementia or dementia diagnosis. Families need to be aware of these early financial warning signs and financial risks so….

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Elder Management, Smart Ageing

Avoiding an Accidental Intestacy: A Reminder for Drafting Lawyers

I recently had the pleasure of leading a course for lawyers who want to learn how to draft Wills (or improve their existing skills). One of the topics that we discussed at some length was how best to draft a residue provision in a Will, where there are multiple residuary beneficiaries. I thought it may be helpful to summarize a key discussion point from our session here, as in my….

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Estate Administration, Estate Planning, Wills

Cottages, Cabins, and Capital Gains

Scotiatrust

This blog post was written by: Derek Hambly, Estate and Trust Consultant, Scotiatrust London It is that time of year again when cottages, cabins and recreational properties are top of mind. Sitting in traffic getting out of town to get to the lake doesn’t seem so bad when your home-away-from-home is waiting for you…. unless of course you are worrying about the capital gain that has accrued on that property….

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Cottage, Estate Planning, Tax Issues
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