Estate Planning

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What is a Discretionary Trust?

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Discretionary trusts are a tool used in estate planning to create a flexible trust that provides trustees the discretion to decide who receives the income or capital from the trust and when. The trustees must choose from the class of beneficiaries that are named in the trust, however, none of the beneficiaries have an automatic right to receive proceeds from the trust. There are many benefits to this type of trust and some drawbacks that can be overcome through proper estate planning…..

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Estate Planning

When Spouses “Separate” Due to Changing Medical Needs

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This blog was written by Christina Papadopoulos, student-at-law at de VRIES LITIGATION LLP. How does a physical separation caused by the admission of one spouse into a long-term care facility impact the interpretation of a will? This was the question posed to the Ontario Superior Court of Justice in Stuart v. Stuart, 2019 ONSC 4328. In that case, a married couple lived together in a property they owned as tenants….

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Contested wills, Elder Care, Elder Law, Estate Administration, Estate Litigation, Estate Planning, Spouse, Wills

The perils of home purchase loans

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Executors and personal representatives are tasked with making sure the deceased’s tax obligations are properly dealt with out of the deceased’s estate. An issue that may arise in the course of dealing with the obligations is how to deal with loans and advances from a private company. The Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) recently shared its view on the application of a tax rule to a home purchase loan from a private….

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Canada Revenue Agency, Estate Planning, Executors, Tax Issues

Wine and Estate Planning

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I recently went looking for information to assist wine and spirit collectors with their estate planning. To my surprise there is little material online.  It’s easy to uncovered truth by drinking wine – “in vivo veritas” – but much harder to find a comprehensive Canadian resource about estate planning for collectors. After meditating on this paucity over a bottle of Okanagan pinot noir that I found in my cellar (well,….

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Estate Administration and Probate Applications, Estate Donations, Estate Planning, Uncategorized

Celebrity Estates – Not Immune from the Trials and Tribulations of Estate Planning and Litigation

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With TIFF in full swing, celebrity worship is in overdrive. However, celebrities also deal with the mundane and there is often nothing glamorous about their estates. In fact, like the rest of us mere mortals, celebrities do not have a lock on getting things right. So often, there is so much money sloshing around, coupled with the absence of a properly drawn will, that estate fights are inevitable. Michael Jackson’s….

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Contested wills, Estate Administration, Estate Administration and Probate Applications, Estate Litigation, Estate Planning, Executors, Family Conflict, Fiduciary Professions, Interest, International, Succession Planning, Tax Issues, U.S. Citizen, United States, US Taxes, Wills

As (More and More) Time Goes By…

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It’s that time of year when we are once again reminded of how quickly time flies.  The start of school signals the end of yet another summer.  And it doesn’t just signal the onset of shorter days and colder weather, but it also reminds us that soon we will be celebrating the start of a new year.  With that often comes the realization that many of those items on our….

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Estate Planning
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