Wills

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Challenge Accepted: Court Challenges to Wills and Claims Against Estates

This blog was written by Isabelle Cadotte – Estate and Trust Consultant with Scotia Wealth Management As lawyers, we routinely field questions from testators about how to avoid challenges to their wills, especially where they’ve decided to leave a family member less than what they might have expected. On the other side of the coin, we’re also asked to help executors facing court challenges commenced by the jilted family member….

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Contested wills, Estate Litigation, Uncategorized, Undue influence, Wills

Secret Trusts

Secret and trusts are essentially trust arrangements made between a testator and a trustee, without written disclosure or agreement of the terms of the arrangement, but where an understanding exists between the parties. Based on precedent in case law, the essential elements of a secret trust are: • An intent by the testator to subject the trustee to an obligation in favour of a beneficiary; • Communication of that intent….

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Estate Administration, Estate Litigation, Liability, Resulting Trust, Trustee, Trusts, Uncategorized, Wills

Can You be Removed as a Trustee Without a Replacement?

The recent case of Novak v. McDougall, (2019 SKQB 261), confirms that when you have accepted an appointment to be trustee, you may not be able to have yourself removed from that appointment without a suitable replacement. The applicant in this case, a beneficiary of a “Henson” trust (basically defined as being entitled to distributions from a discretionary trust but having no vested interest in the trust assets) set up….

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Capacity Law, Contested wills, Costs, Credibility, Estate Administration, Estate Litigation, Executors, Family Conflict, Guardianship, Passing Of Trustees’ and Executors’ Accounts, Resulting Trust, Trustee, Trustee Compensation, Trustee Disputes, Trusts, Uncategorized, Wills

Henson Trusts

Qualifying for support under various government disability programs in the form of cash payments or benefits often means that a recipient must have income and assets below a certain level. Without careful planning an intended inheritance may unintentionally serve to cut off a beneficiary’s government support. A Henson Trust allows for the assets of the deceased to pass to a special trust, and not be counted in the disabled assets….

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Canada Revenue Agency, Estate Litigation, Estate Planning, Executors, Tax Issues, Wills
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