Nearly two years ago, I wrote a blog post titled “Assessing Drake’s Estate Planning Needs”. The post looked at rap sensation Drake’s assets vis-à-vis his intent for his son Adonis to be the sole beneficiary of his estate, and the various considerations that he ought to have in planning for…
Today’s blog post was written by Pritika Deepak, an Associate at Fasken LLP. This is Part II of a three-part blog series which provides a high-level overview of some of the tax implications to consider, with respect to certain assets held at death. Part I, which addresses RRSPs can be…
Recently I received an inquiry from a life insurance advisor about a client who wished to establish a policy and donate it to two charities. My colleague wanted to know if this was possible. In my experience it is possible, but not the best way to do it. Donation Structures…
If a taxpayer owns shares of a corporation and passes away, he or she is deemed to have disposed of their shareholding at fair market value (“FMV”) unless a tax-free rollover is applied (e.g., rollover to a surviving spouse). The disposition of shares may cause a tax liability. In the…
Calmusky v. Calmusky, 2020 ONSC 1506, is a 2020 decision of the Ontario Superior Court of Justice that is ruffling some feathers among banks, financial advisors and estate planning lawyers in Ontario. In this case, the court applied the principles surrounding the presumption of resulting trust, established by the Supreme Court…
As someone who has been around the life insurance industry in a professional and personal capacity for several decades, I am always curious about what motivates people to buy or not buy life insurance. I understand that few people spend time thinking about the consequences of low-probability events and are…
I think it is fair to say that joint ownership of property[2] is one of the most commonly used strategies for property ownership in the context of developing an estate plan. Like any form of partnership, there are many issues to consider in jointly owning property. In the context of…
I previously blogged about Roulston v McKenny et al, 2016 ONSC 2377, as a classic example of chutzpah. The deceased’s ex-wife had a claim against his estate if a life insurance policy lapsed. Even though the estate trustee knew that the policy had lapsed, she withheld this information from the…
Life insurance is an effective way to make a significant future donation, but the unfortunate reality is that charitable policies have a high lapse rate. Thousands of policies have been donated since 1979 when the Canada Revenue Agency allowed premiums to be receipted. Sadly too few pay out to fund…
In Roulston v McKenny et al, 2016 ONSC 2377, the deceased’s ex-wife had a claim against his estate if a life insurance policy lapsed. Even though the estate trustee knew that the policy had lapsed, she withheld this information from the ex-wife – and then argued the ex-wife’s claim was…