Can a Court Create a Henson Trust Post-Death….Find Out Here:

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Kira Domratchev, Partner, Gowling WLG (Canada) LLP Many of us are familiar with the concept of a Henson Trust, as it comes across our desks fairly frequently, both in the context of litigation and planning. A Henson Trust is a trust where the trustee is given an absolute and unfettered discretion such that a beneficiary could not compel the trustee to make payments to them. For that reason, a beneficiary’s….

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Healthcare, Uncategorized

A Call Out for Screening and Standardized Assessment of Decision-Making Incapacity Validated by Research

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The determination of decision-making incapacity is time, task, and situation specific, and can be quite complex.  This complexity is in part caused by a lack of reliability and standardization when it comes to determining capacity.  In turn, this lack of reliability and standardization is caused by, among other things: biased or unattainable corroborative information, potential outcomes, risks, social conflicts, and impacts on family or supportive friends. All of these factors….

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Paws and Plans: Securing your Pet’s Future

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Today’s blog was written by Courtney Lanthier, Law Clerk at Fasken LLP. In recent years, I have noticed an increase in the younger generations (specifically my millennial generation) opting to have pets instead of children. This shift can be seen as a result of many economic factors and has ultimately redefined the traditional definition of family. So if pets are effectively “taking the place of” children, shouldn’t they receive similar….

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Estate Planning, Trusts, Wills

The Last “ism”

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Scotiatrust

This blog post was written by Hannah Zip, Estate and Trust Consultant, Scotiatrust Toronto People over the age of 65 accounted for 19% of the Canadian population in 2023, according to Statistics Canada. This diverse and growing group of individuals commonly encounters ageism, one of the remaining socially accepted “isms”. Ageism is defined by the World Health Organization (WHO) as discrimination against people due to negative, inaccurate stereotypes and prejudices….

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Elder Care, Elder Law, Estate Planning, Smart Ageing, Testamentary Capacity

Key Estate Decisions Released in 2024 and 2025: Part II

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Two weeks ago, I posted Part I of this series. This blog is the second edition, as promised, and will detail 3 more recently released decisions that have had a lasting impact in the estate litigation and planning worlds. Salmon v. Rombough, 2024 ONSC 1186 This decisions applies the (fairly) newly entrenched section 21.1 of the Succession Law Reform Act (“SLRA”), which allows documents to be recognized as valid wills….

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Joint Ownership & Tax Considerations

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The benefits of joint property ownership as an estate and probate planning strategy are well known; property vests to the surviving owner(s) on death thus, bypassing the estate and avoiding probate fees. In the right circumstances, joint ownership works great and facilitates the succession of the property. However, what may be overlooked are the potential unintended tax consequences associated with joint ownership. Joint Ownership: Legal vs Tax For legal purposes,….

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Estate Planning, Joint Tenancy, Probate Tax, Resulting Trust, Tax Issues
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