All About Estates

Tag: succession planning

Total 8 Posts

The Ultimate Paper Anniversary Gift: Why a Will Is an Act of Love

Today’s blog was written by Jessica Butler, Law Clerk at Fasken LLP. This past Tuesday, October 15th, marked a significant milestone for me an my husband – one whole year of marital bliss! With the traditional first-anniversary gift being paper, I found myself thinking about a particularly profound paper: a…

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Gamers are Letting off Some “Steam” After Learning that Purchased Games are Not Transferrable on Death

Pictured: A screenshot of a discussion between a Steam user and a Steam Support representative that has taken the internet by storm. Usually, I get my trusts and estates-related news from legal blogs, LinkedIn or emails from colleagues. So, you can imagine my surprise when I stumbled upon a pretty…

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How the ‘Hotchpot Clause’ Lost its Groove: the marriage settlement trust and myth of women’s legal disabilities

What is Hotchpot? In estates law, “hotchpot” is a legal term of art.[1] It is an umbrella term that covers a few related concepts (e.g., a hotchpot clause, common law presumptions of hotchpot, intestacy legislation on the same). In essence, the purpose of hotchpot is to prevent one beneficiary from…

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“Unmasking” the Issues Facing Family Businesses

This post was contributed to by Maureen Berry and Demetre Vasilounis of Fasken. If there is one thing that 2020 has taught us, it is that the world as we know it is capable of changing overnight. While the COVID-19 pandemic has had immeasurable impacts on our economy, our interactions with…

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Families and Lessons Learnt Along The Way V: 2

The more people/families I meet, the more I am amazed that there can be so much conflict that continues….. Many estate practices are busy because of familial conflict. We all know families that are not on speaking terms. In most cases, money has something to do with it. I wanted…

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Despite a Messy Fight Over a Billionaire’s Capacity, Succession Planning Still Essential

Over the past year, the saga of billionaire Sumner Redstone’s estate and capacity fight has continued to play out in the United States. Redstone, an American media magnate, was the subject of a lawsuit brought by Manuela Herzer, a former girlfriend. Herzer alleged that the CBS Corporation and Viacom owner…

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Private Foundation Continuity

The combination of “private foundation and perpetuity” is a bit like “Fred and Ginger”, always linked in the public mind. Since 2000, however, the charitable status of 1,750 Canadian private foundations has been revoked. Of that number, 1,088 private foundations deregistered on a voluntary basis at the request of trustees…

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