Powers of Attorney for Property: An In-Depth Review

My previous blog ended with the following sentence: “Where a power of attorney for property is effective upon execution, proper safeguards should be put in place to ensure the power of attorney is not inappropriately acted upon”. This blog will expand on the meaning of that sentence. Where a power of attorney for property is effective upon execution, there is the potential for misuse and abuse of the document. If….

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Power of Attorney

The Litigator’s Holiday Medley

It is that time of year again… “the Most Wonderful Time of the Year” as that well-loved refrain goes.  Lawyers and other professionals can get awfully serious about what they do when it comes to estate planning, litigation, and administration.  So in an attempt to offer some levity in this busy season, I offer a reworking of two holiday classics from a litigator’s perspective (with apologizes to songwriters of old). ….

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Estate Litigation

Trust Allocations and Gifts to Family Members

A common estate planning technique is to structure a family trust which owns the shares of a small business corporation in such a way that allows each beneficiary (most commonly being members of the taxpayer’s immediate family – spouse and/or children) to participate in the sale or disposition of the business, thereby utilizing their life time capital gains exemption and potentially saving several hundred thousand dollars in taxes payable on….

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Business Succession Planning, Canada Revenue Agency, Estate Planning, Investments, Property, Small Business, Tax Issues, Trustee, Trusts, Uncategorized

Holiday Jingle 2018

Where has the time gone?  Have you noticed that the older one gets the faster time is? I can’t believe  we are almost at the end of 2017. Upon reflection, it has been a whirlwind year. Thankfully my family and I experienced good health.  However I know this has not been the case for many of you. My work takes me into the lives of many individuals who are not….

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Elder Care

Your Family Trust Has a Non-Resident Beneficiary

In today’s world of international families it is not uncommon for a Canadian family to have one or more members that are non-residents of Canada. When that same family has set up a Canadian discretionary family trust that is intended to benefit its members with, say distributions from a family business, a number of complexities arise for the administration of that family trust.  Often the trustees of such a family….

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Canada Revenue Agency, Estate Planning, Tax Issues, U.S. Citizen

Introducing Ziggy- A Caring Companion

I am sharing my good fortune in that I am proud to be a ‘puppy raiser’ for the Canadian National Institute for the Blind (CNIB).I am doing so in this blog because it relates directly to aging well and philanthropic opportunities. By way of background, CNIB is a national charitable institution that is celebrating its 100th birthday this year. They work with people of all ages in their own homes….

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Philanthropy/Charitable Giving, Uncategorized
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