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Incomplete and Unprocessed Beneficiary Designation Held Valid

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Anna Chen, Associate, Gowling WLG (Canada) LLP In the recent decision, The Estate of William Harper,[1] the Court was asked to determine whether a two page beneficiary designation form that was missing its first page (the page on which the account number would be indicated) and not processed by the financial institution was valid. Facts William Harper, deceased (the “Deceased”), died on September 5, 2019.  At the time of his….

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Estate Planning, Succession Planning, Uncategorized

Guardianship Applications: Evaluating Decision-Making Capacity of Minors Who Are Soon to Become Adults

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Nathan Spaling (my colleague from the Capacity Clinic) and I are often asked to conduct capacity assessments in the context of guardianship applications. On occasion, the application is brought by a parent seeking to be appointed as the guardian of property for a child who is about to become an adult (i.e., the child is nearing their eighteenth birthday). Adults are presumed to have capacity to manage their own property…..

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Can solicitor-client privilege protect estate trustees from claims brought by beneficiaries?

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Today’s Blog was written by Mohena Singh, Associate at Fasken LLP. As estate planners, we are regularly engaged by individuals who are acting as estate trustees. This role can often be a long endeavour as it could take several years to administer an estate. During an administration, estate trustees are entrusted to make important decisions, including how to invest estate funds and making distributions to beneficiaries. Sometimes a beneficiary may….

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Contested wills, Estate Administration, Estate Administration and Probate Applications, Executors, Uncategorized

But We Had a Deal – Overview of the Law on Motions to Enforce a Settlement

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Generally, many of the estate litigation cases we see settle before the hearing of the application or before the matter proceeds to trial. However, quite often, minutes of settlement are not executed at the time an agreement is reached. Indeed, cases are sometimes resolved late in the evening or there is an agreement in principle or signed settlement terms, with a formal agreement to follow. While parties may be able….

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Contracts, Estate Litigation, Family Conflict, Uncategorized

COTTRELL A MUST-READ FOR VALUING THE INTEREST OF A BENEFICIARY IN A DISCRETIONARY TRUST

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This blog has been written by Darren Lund, a partner at Fasken LLP In Ontario, trust law and family law have for some time taken very different approaches to valuing the interest of a beneficiary in a discretionary family trust. For trust lawyers, a beneficiary’s interest in a discretionary family trust is a “mere expectancy”. Beneficiaries who are part of the class of discretionary beneficiaries have a right to be….

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Estate Planning, Family Conflict, Property, Separation, Trusts, Uncategorized

When Philanthropy Offends

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Rueben Wells Leonard was an early Canadian tycoon straight out of central casting. He was a pioneering philanthropist whose views created controversy in life and after death.  His story is a key part of Canadian philanthropic history, and it contains some relevant lessons for today. The Man Born in 1861 and trained as a civil engineer, Rueben Wells Leonard struck it rich in 1904 after finding a massive silver deposit….

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Philanthropy/Charitable Giving, Uncategorized
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