One of the responsibilities of an executor is to deal with the final tax return of the deceased and file the tax returns for the estate. Most tax deadlines are statutory (established in the Income Tax Act) therefore, they are non-negotiable. The executor should consult a tax advisor early to…
Category: Estate Administration
This blog has been written by Sandra Arsenault, Law Clerk at Fasken LLP. A Season of Beginnings, Endings, and Books As the leaves change and the weather cools, I imagine curling up in a cozy spot with a hot beverage and a new book. Autumn is when we salute the…
Today’s blog post was written by Latoya Brown, an Associate at Fasken LLP. The discussion of discriminatory wills continues with a new case out of the British Columbia Supreme Court. In Lam v Law Estate, 2024 BCSC 156, the court varied a testatrix’s will on the reasoning that the testatrix’s…
If I were administering Taylor Swift’s estate, I would have to continuously monitor her trademarked lyrics “This sick beat”, “Party like it’s 1989” and “Cause we never go out of style”, amongst others. Generally, artistic works involve copyright to protect it from being used and sold by others. But, as…
As many of our readers may know, estate trustees have a duty to account to the beneficiaries of an estate for the property they administer. Beneficiaries are entitled to be kept informed and can reasonably expect transparency and communication from the estate trustee in this regard. Oftentimes, an estate trustee…
Quite often, we are contacted by law firms in foreign jurisdictions requesting assistance in resealing or confirming a foreign grant in Ontario to deal with assets located in Ontario. My colleague Emily Hubling and I reviewed this topic back in 2019 (https://www.allaboutestates.ca/probate-becomes-international-affair/) and today’s blog is a refresher on the…
One of the main duties of an executor is to distribute the assets of an estate according to the terms of the Will. Typically, it is easy to pay a cash legacy to a beneficiary or to deliver a specific bequest if the beneficiary lives nearby. But what happens if…
When I was in private practice, I almost applied for a Benjamin order on an estate file until I was saved by the Registrar’s record that the sole heir had in fact predeceased the deceased. The result was one that ended well since the sole niece who had spent a…
The Canadian concept of taxing the deceased by deeming a disposition at death is contrary to many countries where the inheritance tax is paid by the heirs upon receiving money or properties from a deceased person. In other words, while Canada taxes the deceased on death, most countries – notably…
Andrew Coates, Associate, Gowling WLG (Canada) LLP Betty Laidlaw contributed an informative two-part series in 2023 regarding “What Happens If Something Happens to Your Executor?” In the second part, Betty explained the process for the alternate executor named in a Will making an application for a Certificate of Appointment of…