I’m confident that lawyers and clerks who work with assistants will agree: legal assistants are vital to the daily operations of a legal practice. There have been a number of blogs written about the day in the life of an estate planner or a law clerk working in estates. In today’s blog, I’ve invited my assistant, Sarah Whelan, to share insights into her role and highlight the key aspects of….
This blog has been written by Darren Lund, Partner at Fasken LLP In a previous blog, I wrote about the Ontario Superior Court of Justice decision in Lang-Newlands v Newlands, 2024 ONSC 6285. To briefly summarize, the Newlands case considered a number of issues, but the key issue of interest for estate planners is the court’s analysis of an “estate freeze” transaction that occurred during the parties’ marriage. Barbara and….
Newlands Revisited: Moving to the Appeal Continue Reading »
Estate Planning, Family Conflict, Separation, Succession Planning, Trusts, UncategorizedThe Institute of Law Clerks of Ontario recently hosted an education session on Ontario’s Estate Administration Tax (“EAT”) and the Estate Information Return (“EIR”), presented by a representative of the Ontario Ministry of Finance (“MOF”). I was particularly interested in this session as I wrote about the new online filing process for EIRs in my last blog post https://allaboutestates.ca/estate-information-return-the-new-online-process/. Today’s blog will share some of the key takeaways from….
Ontario Estate Information Return Essentials Continue Reading »
Estate Administration, Estate Administration and Probate Applications, Estate Planning, Probate Tax, Tax Issues, WillsThis blog has been written by Rahul Sharma, Partner, at Fasken Martineau DuMoulin LLP, Toronto Joint ownership of property with a right of survivorship is perhaps the most common or popular means by which a couple, for example, owns a home in Ontario. Simply put, “joint with right of survivorship” means that when one of the two joint owners dies, the other becomes the owner of the property. The succession….
We Have a Joint Ownership Problem Continue Reading »
Estate Planning, Property, Spouse, Succession Planning, Tax IssuesThis blog has been written by Pritika Deepak, Associate at Fasken LLP. The final part of this three-part blog series discussing Powers of Attorney for Property (“POAs”) in Ontario, will focus on specific provisions and some considerations to keep in mind when drafting these documents. Specifically, it will provide a high-level overview of the use of multiple POAs, considerations for appointments, and conflict of interest provisions in POAs. Multiple POAs….
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….
Avoiding an Accidental Intestacy: A Reminder for Drafting Lawyers Continue Reading »
Estate Administration, Estate Planning, Wills