Estate Administration

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Life Interest or Licence to Use?

A person’s house is often their most valuable assets – both monetarily and emotionally. As a result, testators tend to put a lot of thought into who, and how, they wish to leave their house. However, as is always the case, best laid plans often go awry. One example of this, explored in the 2022 Court of Appeal of Ontario decision Barsoski Estate v Wesley, is when it is unclear whether the will gifts someone with a life interest in the house or a licence to use the property…..

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Charitable Giving, Contested wills, Estate Administration, Estate Litigation, Estate Planning, Interest, Philanthropy/Charitable Giving, Property, Real Estate, Succession Planning, Wills

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

Leaving testamentary gifts vs giving while living – By: Yvonne Mazurak

As others have previously noted on this blog, over the coming years, we will be witnessing an unprecedent transfer of wealth from one generation to the next. While much will be transferring by way of inheritance, some who are in a position to, might wish to consider transferring assets to their families and others while they are still alive. When deciding whether to make lifetime gifts, the first factor to….

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Estate Administration, Estate Planning, Uncategorized, Wills

The Value of Canadian Tire “Money” in Estates

Canadian Tire “money” has been distributed by Canadian Tire stores for almost 65 years. While CT Money is often dismissed, it may be a mistake to ignore the bills as a potential asset of the estate…..

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Estate Administration, Executors, Fiduciary Professions, In the News, Investments, Property, Succession Planning, Trustee, valuation

What Happens When a Shareholder Party to a Transaction Becomes Incapable; Powers of Attorney for Property and Due Diligence Tips

This is Part III of my saga on incapacity planning in a corporate context. Part I and Part II can be found respectively at: https://allaboutestates.ca/powers-of-attorney-for-property-implications-of-obtaining-a-formal-capacity-assessment/, and https://allaboutestates.ca/what-happens-when-a-shareholder-voting-or-a-director-becomes-incapable-powers-of-attorney-for-property-and-shareholder-agreement-drafting-tips/. As a reminder, Part II addressed two situations that we, as estate planners, are commonly asked about: A director becomes incapable – who can sign for them? A shareholder (voting) becomes incapable – who can attend to governance regarding electing directors and officers….

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Capacity Law, Estate Administration, Estate Planning, Power of Attorney, Property

Estate Sleuthing

As a law clerk working in the area of estate administration, we often have to act as “detectives”.  For example, we may have to conduct searches to determine whether or not the deceased had a Will.  We may need to track down the beneficiaries named in the Will or piece together a family tree and locate family members if the deceased died intestate.  We might have to search financial records….

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Estate Administration, Estate Planning, Executors, Wills
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