Estate Administration

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Changes to a Trust Agreement

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The Canada Revenue Agency recently responded to a ruling request as to whether or not a proposed amendment to a trust agreement could be so significant to cause a resettlement of the trust, or a disposition of a beneficiary’s interest in the trust Before the enactment of variation of trusts legislation, trustees were generally bound to administer the trust according to its terms.  Unless specifically allowed in the trust deed,….

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Canada Revenue Agency, Estate Administration, Executors, Tax Issues

Trusts and Trust Resettlements – Variations and Circumstances

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Variation(s) of a trust agreement, after it is settled, does carry the risk of causing a resettlement of a trust or a disposition of a beneficiary’s interest in the trust, with serious tax consequences. But not all variations lead to resettlement, fortunately. Recently in an advance ruling, the Canada revenue Agency (“CRA”) was asked to consider whether a trustee seeking to amend a trust agreement for the appointment of the….

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Canada Revenue Agency, Disability, Estate Administration, Executors, Guardianship, Spouse, Tax Issues, Testamentary Capacity, Trustee, Trusts, Uncategorized

Ignorance is Bliss

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Our friend recently told us that his sister had done a DNA genetic test with one of the companies that provides ancestry and  health information.  What she found out was not what she was expecting at all.  No, she does not have ‘royal’ roots but she does have twin half brothers that she did not know existed.  It turns out that my friend’s mom had, before she married his father,….

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Contested wills, Estate Administration, Estate Litigation

R.E.S.P.E.C.T…..the handwriting analysis?

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The Aretha Franklin estate saga has taken another interesting turn this week, with a Michigan Probate Court making an order for a handwriting analyst to review one of her holograph Wills. As Lara Besharat explained in her detailed blog post on May 23rd, Aretha died in August of 2018, leaving behind three handwritten Wills, two of which were dated 2010, and one of which was dated 2014. The two Wills….

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Estate Administration

A TFSA loses its tax exempt status

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The income tax treatment of a trust and its beneficiary where the trust lost its status as a tax-free savings account (TFSA) because it contravened the registration restriction on borrowing money was the subject of a recent Canada Revenue Agency(CRA) technical interpretation. The trust continued to exist for several years after the borrowing occurred and was administered during that time by the TFSA issuer as though it were a TFSA…..

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Canada Revenue Agency, Estate Administration, Executors, Tax Issues
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