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‘Twas The Night Before Probate

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‘Twas the night before probate, when all through the court, Not a lawyer was stirring, not even for a tort, The executors advertised for creditors with care, In the hopes that distant relatives would remain unaware, The beneficiaries were nestled, with comfort in their gifts, But the judge said the second will was uncertain, causing a big rift, The family soured, pointing their fingers in blame, When the deceased’s teenage….

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Saying “See You Soon” rather than Goodbye.

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Previously posted @allaboutestates. A timeless message: Holiday travel is around the corner. Traveling with older parents does require pre-planning and this blog highlights a recent trip accompanying my mother to see her older brother and sister in law who live over 4,000 km away. Like any trip, it required organization but alittle more so to ensure we had: A direct flight, a wheelchair available at both departure and arrival x….

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Exercising Discretion – Beware of Absolute Powers

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As the calendar year draws to yet another close, and each of us mentally checks off items on our year-end checklists, trustees of a discretionary family trust should take this time to determine whether to make a discretionary distribution of income or capital for the year ending.  Often the terms of a trust will grant the trustees a discretionary power to pay out income or encroach on capital of the….

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Changes Are Coming to the Ontario Disability Support Program

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In July, the Ontario Minister of Children, Community and Social Services (“Minister”) announced that the provincial government was set to spend 100 days developing a plan “to reform social assistance so it helps more people break the cycle of poverty, re-enter the workforce and get back on track.” [1] At that time, the Ontario government also announced it was rolling back changes to ODSP that had been introduced by the….

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Art and Fair Market Value

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[caption id="attachment_7127" align="aligncenter" width="550"] Sir Frederick Grant Banting, 1891 – 1941, The Lab[/caption] Fall art auction week in Toronto is just past. The biggest is run by Heffel Fine Art Auction. The results for the two Heffel auctions illustrate the challenge of determining fair market value in art. The auction catalogue listed a number of estates and charitable foundation as consignors. Clearly art valuation issues affect estate planning. Heffel offered 135….

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Estate Administration, Estate Donations, Estate Planning, Uncategorized

Limiting the Limitations Act

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Estate trustees must be ready at all times to account for their management and administration of an estate.  There is no statutory requirement for an estate trustee to formally pass his or her accounts.  However, the court may order an estate trustee to do so.  As part of the estate accounting application, beneficiaries can file a “notice of objection” to the estate trustee’s accounts to request further information or documents….

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