Estate Planning

The recent case of Morton v. Christian is a reminder to Quebec residents – if you execute a notarial Will, you need to appreciate the manner in which the notarial Will can be revoked. Notarial Wills stem from the Quebec Civil Code. They are executed before a notary, who then registers the original with the provincial registry and stores the original as an officer of the court. The benefit of….

The Law Commission of Ontario (LCO) has undertaken a project to examine and review Ontario’s laws related to legal capacity, decision –making and guardianship. Earlier this month, I had the pleasure of attending one of their focus groups. Spokespersons from various groups were there representing those with autism, mental health issues and the hearing impaired, to name a few. While the disability groups may have different issues, there was more….

A recent Ipsos-Reid report found older Canadians lack confidence in the health-care system’s ability to provide for seniors in the future. With the aging population and strains on the various government systems and agencies for seniors, elder care planning is becoming more crucial. The shift in the demographics of our society into an aged population will put additional strain on our health care system and our caregivers. Most individuals as….

I recently had the pleasure of presenting to a group of seniors on the topic of Elder Abuse. The event was organized by the Sunshine Group of Seniors, part of the San Romanoway Revitalization Association. I presented along with Police Constable Amir Butt of 31 Division. P.C. Butt explained that there are four different types of elder abuse: physical; psychological or emotional; financial; and, neglect. He explained that neglect comes in….

Last week, Audrey Miller took the initiative to blog about ‘Ralph the Programme Guy’ and reflected on the lesson learned from his ‘eccentric’ life and sad, lonely death. I hope that the blogosphere will forgive my indulgence in following up on an issue that is only indirectly related to testamentary capacity. Since my childhood days,  I also had known ‘Ralph’, whose real name was Rayfield Platner. Rayfield was probably a variation….