our 10th year
blog anniversary
Many families face challenges that they could not have foreseen when their children were growing up and living at home that one or more, and in some cases all of them, would end up living in the U.S. Children often decide to live permanently in the U.S. to pursue employment
Canadian families are more global than ever and this trend will only continue. Children and other family members increasingly work in other countries, sometimes staying after post-secondary education at a foreign college or university, forming relationships, including marriage, having children, and settling in their new home jurisdiction. Others emigrate to
In our blog just under a year ago of January 29, 2025, we speculated on what to expect for U.S. estate tax under a second Trump administration. With the decrease to about half the current amount of the lifetime exclusion amount set to occur on January 1, 2026 unless new
The role of the estate planning lawyer has greatly expanded over the last three decades with the advent in the 1990s in Ontario of modern legislation dealing with substitute decision-making, including powers of attorney for property and for personal care; see our updated Advisory on this. Part of the planning
Procrastination is the act of delaying or putting off tasks. It’s not about laziness or indolence, but is caused by fear or anxiety or as a way to cope with unpleasant emotions. Wealthy, successful people can be the biggest procrastinators. In fact, among respondents with a doctorate or master’s degree,
Many of you may have read about the recent Murdoch family trust dispute, the elements of which are a real-life drama even more interesting than an episode of the Succession series, thought to be based on the Murdoch family’s trials and tribulations. The court decision in this case provides lessons to
What does the law say about your autonomy to make gifts, whether during your lifetime or on death under your will? When will the law intervene, and when will it step aside? This issue is of increasing importance in our aging society where many of us will live well into
Now that Donald Trump has been inaugurated, what can we expect to happen to U.S. estate tax? There has been a rapid flurry of executive orders and announcements since the January 20, 2025 inauguration, but not yet any guidance on what to expect for U.S. estate tax in 2025 and
Courts in common law jurisdictions continue to grapple with how to deal with a spouse’s interest in a discretionary trust when there is a marital breakdown, and whether to include them in property division, and if included, how to value them in dividing family property. There have been shifts by
Election fervour and fever continues to escalate south of the border and Canada will soon follow. Our last federal election was September 20, 2021, and constitutional and statutory provisions require that the next federal election must be held no more than 5 years after a preceding election and by the