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Toronto Ontario Estate Law Blog
U.S. Tax Reform Moves Forward at Breakneck Speed
No doubt many U.S. legislators were chewing on tax reform over the U.S. Thanksgiving weekend, as well as enjoying their turkey, as unprecedented momentum is moving U.S reforms ahead at breakneck speed demonstrating Congress’s desire to complete tax reform before year end. The proposed changes will be the most significant
Acting as an Executor or Attorney: Starting Out on the Right Foot
One of the questions we often get asked by people who are planning their estates or for incapacity is who they should appoint to be the executors of their will or their substitute decision makers if they become incapable. (In Ontario, substitute decision makers during incapacity are known as attorneys
Putting the “Success” Back Into Succession Planning
One of the increasing challenges facing parents and other family members today is achieving success in their estate planning – passing on their wealth well. But how should we define “success”. From a professional viewpoint, much of estate planning focuses on ensuring a tax and cost-efficient transition of wealth to
Estate Planning and Marriage Breakdown – Protecting the Inheritance
In estate planning, a parent typically wishes to provide for their children and each child’s family. However, this desire to benefit the child’s family often has a caveat: the child’s spouse should not receive any part of the inheritance in the event of separation or divorce.
Medically Assisted Dying in Canada – An Update
In April 2017, the CBC reported that over 1,300 people in Canada have died with medical assistance since the Criminal Code was amended in 2016 to legalize medical assistance in dying (“MAID”). While this statistic points to the importance of MAID for many Canadians, the new legislation has not settled
Reproductive Technology and Estate Law: The Road to Progress is Paved with Good Intentions
On January 1, 2017, most of the provisions of the All Families Are Equal Act (Parentage and Related Registrations Statute Law Amendments), 2016 (S.O. 2016, c. 23) came into effect in Ontario. The intention of the Act is to establish new rules of parentage in Ontario to deal with the
The Winds of Change or the Winds of War? Government’s Tax Proposals Target Business Owners
As we return from Labour Day weekend and reflect back on the summer that never quite was, a major issue that will grab attention over the next weeks, now that it’s business as usual again, is the government’s recent tax proposals. The government chose on July 17, 2017 in the
Integrating Life Insurance in The Estate Plan: The Need for an Holistic Approach
One of the interesting changes in our modern age when it comes to succession on death is that for many people, most of what they pass to their family and others will not be through their will, but instead by a “will substitute” such as life insurance. Many persons have
The New Normal: Assisting a Child with Buying a Home
A current trend in the increasingly expensive Canadian housing market is parents helping children or grandchildren and their spouses with a down payment or mortgage on a first home. In Ontario, about 35% of people buying homes now receive assistance from their relatives with a down payment and approximately 38%
Navigating Multi-Jurisdictional Probate
In March of this year, I wrote about the complications which can arise in administering an estate of an individual who owns a vacation home in a U.S. state such as Florida or Arizona. In that blog, I discussed issues in estate administration which arise from the multi-jurisdictional location of