Estate Alert – Proposed Amendments to Ontario Legislation in Respect of Parental Recognition
Bill 137 – An Act to amend the Children’s Law Reform Act, the Vital Statistics Act andother Acts with respect to parental recognition, which is also known as Cy and Ruby’s Act (Parental Recognition), 2015 – proposes a number of amendments to the statutes dealing with parental recognition.
Estate Alert – Common Misconceptions about Joint Accounts and Joint Ownership
Elderly parents will often put their money into bank accounts held jointly with their adult children, or transfer real property into a joint tenancy with one or more of their adult children. Sometimes, this is done for expediency so that an adult child can help manage the asset. In other cases, this is a planning technique used to avoid estate administration tax when the parent dies.
Estate Alert – Planning for Custody and Financial Support After Death
Parents with minor children have specific estate planning concerns. One such concern is how to provide financially for the children if one or both parents die. Another concern is who will care for and raise the children should both parents die at the same time.
Estate Alert – 2015 Federal Budget Highlights
Yesterday the Minister of Finance, the Honourable Joe Oliver, presented the federal budget for 2015-2016 (“Budget 2015”) in the House of Commons. The following is a summary of some of […]
The Carter Decision What’s Next?
Our Estate Alert of February 6, 2015 discussed the Supreme Court of Canada [“SCC”]’s decision of Carter v. Canada (Attorney General)that was released that day. Now that we have had some time to consider the decision, we are asking “what’s next?”
“Litigating Through the Grey Zone: The Law of Testamentary Capacity” in Annual Review of Civil Litigation 2014
Cited in: David v. TransAmerica, 2015 ONSC 5192 INTRODUCTION It is estimated that approximately 44 million people around the world suffer with some form of dementia. By 2050, that number […]
Partner Caroline Abela Speaks Out on Protecting Seniors from Financial Abuse
To spread awareness of the growing crime of financial abuse of seniors, Caroline Abela has given a series of media interviews.
Sperm Donors Beware: Can you Bank on Your Anonymity?
The Court of Appeal for British Columbia has recently held that the offspring of anonymous sperm donors (“donor offspring”) have no constitutionally-protected right to know the identities of their biological […]
What You Need to Know: Changes to Ontario’s Estate Administration Tax Act
The holiday season offers a rare opportunity for family members to come together to discuss important issues, including the often uncomfortable topic of estate planning. This year, it is important […]
Twenty-one WeirFoulds lawyers named in 2013 Best Lawyers in Canada
Twenty-one WeirFoulds lawyers have been recognized by their colleagues in an annual peer-review survey and named to the 2013 edition of The Best Lawyers in Canada, one of the most […]
Genetic Material as Property: Rethinking the Common Law View
People draft wills to set out their wishes for how their property is to be distributed after they die. Certain itemssuch as money, real estate, or jewelleryare easily identifiable as […]
Saving Ontario’s Heritage: The Municipal Application of Part IV of the Ontario Heritage Act
Introduction The Ontario Heritage Act, “an Act to provide for the Conservation, Protection and Preservation of the Heritage of Ontario”, (the “Act”) has been with us, in principle, since March […]
Quiz: U.S.-Canada cross-border estate issues
How would you resolve these case situations?
Jurisdiction to Review Trustee Discretion – Case Comment on two UK Appeals Pitt v. Holt, Futter v. Futter
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Case Law Update: Rondel v Robinson Estate
Estates Interpretation of a Will Admissible Evidence