Estate Litigation

Total 411 Posts

The Endowment Effect

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[caption id="attachment_5640" align="aligncenter" width="463"] St Miguel and the Dragon, 14th Century, Museu Nacional d’Art de Catalunya, Barcelona, Spain[/caption] People value objects more when they own or possess them – or at least when they presume ownership.   In cognitive psychology this phenomenon is called the “endowment effect”.    It’s a concept that was seemingly invented to describe a lot of behaviour related to estates, philanthropy and foundations.   It’s time to give it….

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Estate Administration, Estate Litigation, Family Conflict, Philanthropy/Charitable Giving

GIFTS – Some Additional Thougths

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Recently, I wrote about the gifting of cash or assets during one’s lifetime as an alternative method of distributing your wealth (beyond what you need to live on comfortably) and possibly avoid taxes (probate, income etc.) at time of death. I suggested that your heirs could use the funds in a manner that will likely cost less tax: For example pay down some personal debt, apply it as a deposit….

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Canada Revenue Agency, Charitable Giving, Estate Litigation, Estate Planning, Family Conflict, Investments, Joint Tenancy, Loans, Philanthropy/Charitable Giving, Probate Tax, Property, Real Estate, Tax Issues, Trusts, Uncategorized

A Brief Review of Solicitor’s Negligence

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Claims against solicitors for negligence often arise in the context of estates cases, whether it be the failure of a lawyer to ensure that a testator’s wishes are accurately reflected in his/her will, to neglecting to confirm the testator had the requisite capacity and was not subject to undue influence in executing his/her last will. This blog provides a general overview of the current law of solicitor’s negligence and the….

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Estate Litigation, Liability, Wills

Consolidate, for Efficiency’s Sake!

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The 2014 Supreme Court decision, Hryniak v Mauldin, directly addressed the need to increase access to justice. In that case, the Supreme Court clarified and broadened a court’s fact-finding powers on summary judgment motions with the goal of providing litigants a faster procedure in appropriate cases. In the same spirit, there are other procedural tools available to streamline court proceedings and eliminate redundancy. In particular, Rule 6 of the Rules….

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Estate Litigation, Guardianship, Power of Attorney, Powers Of Attorney and Guardianship Disputes

Capacity Assessments and Biases to Beware of

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Capacity assessments regarding capacity to manage property, testamentary capacity or capacity to appoint a power of attorney for property (POA), whether conducted contemporaneously or retrospectively, rely upon whatever materials/information that is provided to an assessor to review. Materials may include relevant medical records, previous wills and POA documents, interview of the person if done contemporaneously or videos and/or audio recordings of the deceased if retrospective, and affidavits within legal briefs…..

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Capacity Law, Elder Law, Estate Litigation, Guardianship, Powers Of Attorney and Guardianship Disputes, Testamentary Capacity

My Best Interests, and Yours Too?

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The recent case of Tarantino v. Galvano, 2017 ONSC 3535, raises a variety of issues familiar to estate litigators – powers of attorney, capacity, quantum meruit claims, the duty to account and the rules surrounding the removal of an estate’s executor. In this case the deceased, Rosa Filippo Galvano (“Rosa”) had two daughters, Nellie Galvano (“Nellie”) and Giuseppina Bucci (“Giuseppina”), who died in 2007. Giuseppina had two daughters, Rosa Pignatelli and….

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Attorney Compensation, Capacity Law, Caregiving, Compensation, Contracts, Elder Care, Estate Administration, Estate Administration and Probate Applications, Estate Litigation, Executors, Family Conflict, Passing Of Trustees’ and Executors’ Accounts, POA Compensation, Power of Attorney, Powers Of Attorney and Guardianship Disputes, Wills
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