Estate Administration

Total 505 Posts

Articles and Personal Effects – Oversight for Wills

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Scotiatrust

This blog post was written by: Holly Van Schouwen, Estate and Trust Consultant, Scotiatrust Victoria It’s a sad time, A parent has passed on and the adult children are reviewing the Will.  One or more of the children are named to provide oversight in distribution of personal effects (articles).  This can become a contentious issue if there are strained relations within the family. Where there is no specific language around….

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Estate Administration, Estate Planning, Executors, Trustee Disputes, Wills

Avoiding an Accidental Intestacy: A Reminder for Drafting Lawyers

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I recently had the pleasure of leading a course for lawyers who want to learn how to draft Wills (or improve their existing skills). One of the topics that we discussed at some length was how best to draft a residue provision in a Will, where there are multiple residuary beneficiaries. I thought it may be helpful to summarize a key discussion point from our session here, as in my….

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Estate Administration, Estate Planning, Wills

Removal of Estate Trustees Upheld by Ontario Court of Appeal

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In MacBeth Estate v. MacBeth, 2025 ONCA 360 CanLII (“MacBeth Estate”) the lower court’s decision was affirmed by the Ontario Court of Appeal. The appellants appealed the lower court’s decision on the basis that the motion judge (i) erred in denying the appellants an adjournment; (ii) erred in removing them as estate trustees; and (iii) erred in permitting a holdback of only $50,000 (the estate trustees argued for a much….

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Costs, Estate Administration

The Rising Cost of Not Living and the CPP Death Benefit

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This blog has been written by Sandra Arsenault, Law Clerk at Fasken LLP. On January 1, 2025, amendments to the Canada Pension Plan (CPP) Death Benefit came into effect, introducing a top-up for eligible deceased individuals. While this reform is long-overdue, the net benefit overall for most individuals still fails to cover the costs of even the most basic death expenses in 2025. The majority of Canadians will continue to….

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Estate Administration, Estate Planning, Executors

Brown paper packages tied up with strings…

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This blog post was written by Jihan Hosein, Estate and Trust Consultant, Scotiatrust Northern Prairies These are a few of my favourite things… what we can learn from the famous Sound of Music song? A bowl of plastic fruit on grandma’s kitchen counter, may seem inconsequential to some- but to others it’s a powerful reminder of shared moments and family history. While it may not carry significant monetary value, the….

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Estate Administration, Family Conflict, Trustee Disputes

Can insurers insist on probate to release life insurance funds?

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Written by Kelsey Buchmayer, associate with the Ottawa office of Gowling WLG (Canada) LLP An insurer should not necessarily require a probated Will to release the proceeds of a life insurance policy. Section 203 of the Insurance Act[1] sets out that upon receipt of “sufficient evidence”, an insurance company should pay the insurance money to the person entitled thereto, and within thirty days of receiving the evidence: 203 (1) Where an….

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Estate Administration, Estate Administration and Probate Applications, Insurance
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