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Attendant care payments

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With an aging population comes the importance of attendant care of the elderly and disabled. The Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) was recently asked about the taxation of amounts received for attendant care services provided to a spouse or child and returned with a pleasantly surprising answer. A child received a non-taxable award of damages to facilitate the continuous care of the child. A monthly amount was paid out of the….

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Elder Law, Home-Right

Correcting a Mistake in a Will – What did the Testator Intend

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Elizabeth Ann McLaughlin died at the ripe old age of 98.  She was predeceased by her husband.  Together they had six children, including Daniel.  Daniel, as estate trustee, sought to rectify what he characterized as a solicitor’s mistake in his mother’s secondary will. For many years prior to her death, Mrs. McLaughlin had no relationship with her son, Thomas, or her daughter, Judith.  She had previously instructed her long time….

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Estate Planning, Home-Right, Practice Management

What if I can’t spell ‘WORLD’ backwards?

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Clinicians and lawyers are regularly exposed to a score on the Mini-Mental State Exam (MMSE) also known as the ‘Folstein test’ after the developer of the most widely used cognitive screening tool in the world. Yet it is one of the most misunderstood and misinterpreted tests in Medicine, not to mention estate matters. The score of the MMSE is often cited as indicative of the presence of dementia and hence….

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Elder Law, Estate Planning, Home-Right

Philanthropic Ghosts

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Some donors want their wishes understood and spirit felt long after they are gone. This impulse is part of a long tradition that has found expression in restricted gifts, charitable trusts and private foundations. It’s Halloween. Let’s review three approaches to philanthropic haunting. 1. Donor Recognition Many medieval European churches have records of gifts made, often by will, on the condition that prayers are offered in the memory of the….

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Estate Planning, Home-Right, Philanthropy/Charitable Giving

Mandatory Mediation – A Binding Success

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In 1999, a pilot program was implemented in Toronto requiring mandatory mediation for all estates, trusts, and substitute decisions matters.  In 2002, mandatory mediation was expanded to Windsor and Ottawa.  The pilot program was considered a success and mandatory mediation has been enshrined in rule 75.1 of the Rules of Civil Procedure (see the Ministry of the Attorney General’s Fact Sheet on the Mandatory Mediation program). Even in other Ontario….

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Estate Planning, Home-Right, International

What are the Tax Consequences of Disclaiming or Releasing an Interest in a Trust? Part 1

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The CRA recently began an initiative to consolidate the information provided in its income tax interpretation bulletins and income tax technical newsletters. The new publications are called “folios”. As each folio is released, it is subject to a three-month comment period. In late September, the CRA released “S6-F2-C1-Disposition of an Income Interest in a Trust”, which, among other things, summarizes the tax consequences of a disclaimer, release or surrender. A….

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Estate Litigation, Home-Right
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