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Toronto Ontario Estate Law Blog
Considerations in Appointing Executors and Attorneys Out of the Jurisdiction
When considering your estate planning, an important decision is who will be your estate trustee responsible for administering your estate on your death, and as well who will be your attorney under a continuing power of attorney for property to manage your assets during your lifetime in the event that
Marriage Contracts – how enforceable are they?
Marriage contracts can certainly be sensible and valuable planning tools for protecting certain property down the road in the event of a separation or divorce. A marriage contract allows a couple some flexibility in deciding the outcome regarding property division and support if (or when, in the case of death)
Congratulations to Margaret O’Sullivan, the recipient of the 2013 Ontario Bar Association Award of Excellence in Trusts and Estates Law!
Every year, the Trusts and Estates Section of the Ontario Bar Association (OBA) presents the Award of Excellence to recognize exceptional contributions and/or achievements by members of the OBA to the area of wills, trusts and estates. The criteria for the Award of Excellence are as follows: the recipient shall
Using a Trust to Hold U.S. Real Estate
Many Canadians have purchased homes south of the border encouraged by a strong Canadian dollar and a buyer’s market for U.S. real estate. In 2012, Canadians were the leading international buyers of U.S. real estate, accounting for 24% of sales to international buyers.[1] When considering a U.S. property as a
Testamentary Freedom: A Dying (no pun intended) Legal Principle?
One of the hallmarks of the English common law is the notion of testamentary freedom–that each of us is free to pass our property on death as we wish, and to whom we wish, and that we can be as foolish, eccentric or capricious as we choose to be, subject
Planning for Personal Care Issues – the Empowering Journey
Everyone knows about the shift in demographics in our society. People are living longer; it is estimated that one in ten Canadians born today will live to be 100! An aging population puts financial strains on individual, corporate and government resources, trying to keep up with unexpected demands and unplanned-for
US Citizens and Expatriation
U.S. citizens, including dual Canadian/U.S. citizens, may want to know more about how to expatriate from their U.S. citizenship. Approximately 5600 former Americans have renounced in the last four years, coinciding with an increased general awareness of tax compliance requirements for U.S. citizens worldwide. In this blog, we discuss what
Sometimes it is About the Tax – Inter-vivos Trusts and Spousal Loans
In our October 18, 2012 blog “Trusts – It’s Not All About the Tax”, I discussed a few non-tax reasons to consider in setting up a trust as part of estate and wealth planning. However, sometimes the goal is to minimize tax through income-splitting. Two methods of minimizing tax exposure
New harmonizing rules for cross-border succession in Europe and its impact on Canadians
When a person dies leaving assets in more than one country, conflict of laws rules (also known as private international law or PIL rules) step in to help determine which law should govern succession of the estate. These rules are often tricky and confusing to navigate. To achieve more clarity
What is “FATCA” and What Impact Does it Have for You?
The U.S. Government enacted the U.S. Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (“FATCA”) in 2010 to combat offshore tax evasion, introducing detailed reporting requirements which affect some Canadian individuals with U.S. connections and Canadian financial institutions. But did you know these requirements could also affect some Canadian trusts and that trustees