Contracts

Total 39 Posts

Digital Assets: Spotlighting Client User Considerations (Part I)

Today’s blog post was written in collaboration with Adele Ambrose – Student-at-Law at Fasken. It has become clear that the “wait and see” approach to digital assets and digital currency has now shifted to a need for prudent guidance and action by advisors and institutions. According to CoinMarketCap, the total market capitalization for all cryptocurrencies is just under 1 trillion and in 2021 it was at 2 trillion dollars. Though….

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Contracts, Estate Administration, Estate Planning, Property, Succession Planning, Uncategorized, Wills

Are Domestic Contracts Becoming More Popular?

When I explain to people whom I’m meeting for the first time that I’m a lawyer and that among my areas of practice I draft domestic contracts, I’m often met with a response to the effect of “You mean, like, a pre-nup?” I can confirm that a “pre-nup” is, in fact, what I mean. In Ontario, they’re called domestic contracts, and they can take one of two forms: marriage contracts,….

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Contracts, Dependant Support, Estate Planning, Family Conflict, Separation, Spouse

Capacity to Retain and Instruct Counsel

Estate litigation cases often impact upon persons who are incapable. In particular, an individual may be incapable of, among other things, managing their property or personal care, of making a will (testamentary capacity) and of retaining and/or instructing counsel. The recent case of Guardian Law Group v. LS, 2021 (“Guardian”) reviews the requirements that must be met by counsel to be validly retained to represent an individual. In Guardian, the….

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Capacity Law, Contracts, Estate Litigation, Retainer Agreement

More Tech Companies Are Implementing Digital Legacy Planning

When it comes to estate planning for one’s digital assets, it is now no secret that, depending on the organization(s) involved, options can be limited. This is particularly the case for online accounts. A few years ago, Fasken published a bulletin titled “Estate Planning and Online Accounts”. This bulletin examined a selection of major technology companies’ approaches to dealing with a deceased user’s account. Few companies allowed for any sort….

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Contracts, Estate Administration, Estate Planning, In the News

New Privacy Legislation Aims to Address Digital Assets in Estate Administration

Practitioners and clients alike have come to realize that there can be numerous legal challenges to administering a testator’s digital assets, including, among them, ambiguous or restrictive privacy legislation. For most Canadian provinces,[1] the federal Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (“PIPEDA”) does not appear to grant executors, trustees, or personal representatives any powers or capabilities with respect to the disclosure of a testator’s personal information. However, in November 2020,….

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Contracts, Estate Administration, Estate Administration and Probate Applications, Estate Litigation, Estate Planning, In the News, Power of Attorney, Property

Legislative Amendments Proposed in Light of Calmusky

On March 16, 2020, the Superior Court of Ontario released its decision in Calmusky v Calmusky. In Calmusky, the Court applied the presumption of resulting trust to a RIF that was designated to a particular beneficiary. The beneficiary was unable to rebut the presumption, and the Court ordered that funds from the RIF were to be paid to the estate. For a more detailed discussion on Calmusky, see Demetre Vasilounis’….

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Contested wills, Contracts, Estate Administration, Estate Litigation, Estate Planning, Executors, Investments, Joint Tenancy, Resulting Trust, Trusts
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