Estate Planning | All About Estates

Plan Today, Protect Tomorrow: Why You Shouldn’t Wait to Make or Update Your Will

Jennifer Campbell • October 24, 2025 • 0 Comments

November is Make a Will Month, an annual initiative designed to raise awareness about the importance of having a Will. A Will is one of the most critical legal documents you can have, as it ensures that your wishes are respected and your loved ones are provided for after your passing. Despite its significance, many Canadians delay creating a Will, often due to misconceptions about its necessity, the belief that….

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Estate Planning, Succession Planning, Wills

RRSPs Aren’t the Villain – But Misunderstanding Them Is

Scotiatrust • October 23, 2025 • 3 Comments

This blog post was written by: Melissa Plunkett, Director, Scotiatrust On Friday, September 26, 2025, when CTV news published their story “Daughter hit with $660,000 tax bill when both parents died in the same year”, I was inundated with texts and DMs from friends and family asking me if this could really happen to a middle-class family. Did the CRA assess too much tax? Was an RRSP really all taxable at….

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Estate Planning, Tax Issues

Does the Presumption of Advancement Apply to Joint Bank Accounts with a Common-Law Spouse?

Tamar Silverbrook • October 17, 2025 • 1 Comment

The addition of a common-law partner as a joint owner of a bank account with a right of survivorship may give rise to initial uncertainty as to whether the arrangement constitutes a gift. While such a designation may appear to be a gratuitous transfer, the presumption of advancement does not apply to a common law spouse added onto a joint account, even if there is a right of survivorship. If….

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Estate Administration, Estate Planning, Spouse, Wills

Estate Donations of Art

Malcolm Burrows • October 16, 2025 • 0 Comments

[caption id="attachment_21746" align="aligncenter" width="666"] Decisions, Decisions, Charles Pachter (Courtesy of Heffel Auctions)[/caption] Fine art is an asset class of growing importance among the affluent and is beginning to be a significant part of select estate plans. A recent estimate pegged the international art market at US$57.5 billion in 2024 (a 12% decline from 2023) and Canada has seen some record prices at auction. Many collectors are contemplating donating their art….

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Estate Donations, Estate Planning, Philanthropy/Charitable Giving

Young, Married, and Prepared: A First Experience with Wills and POAs

Betty Laidlaw • October 10, 2025 • 1 Comment

As we head into Thanksgiving weekend, I am sharing a guest post written by my son. Earlier this year, he and his partner celebrated a beautiful wedding surrounded by family and friends. Like many life milestones, it prompted some important conversations about their future together, including what would happen if something unexpected occurred. In this post, he shares his experience with estate planning as a newlywed, and the process of….

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Estate Planning, Power of Attorney, Spouse, Wills

Spousal Trusts Without the Trust Issues: Picking the Right Trustee – A Primer and Reminder

Gowling WLG LLP • October 6, 2025 • 0 Comments

Brianna Fable-Watson, Articling Student, Gowling WLG (Canada) LLP When planning your estate, creating a spousal trust is an effective way to ensure that your spouse is financially supported while also protecting the inheritance for your children or other beneficiaries. In a typical spousal trust, your surviving spouse receives the income produced from your assets during their lifetime, while the capital is (potentially) preserved for the next generation after they pass…..

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Estate Administration, Estate Planning, Executors, Spouse, Trustee, Trustee Disputes