Toronto Ontario Estate Law Blog

Charitable foundations are structures for long term, flexible and customized philanthropy. Both private and public foundations enable donors to make long term gifts and have various benefits, including, creating a lasting legacy, involving family members in the giving process, and charitable tax credits. These structures may be attractive for donors

For more than a year now, our client meetings have not been in-person, but instead virtual through video conferences. At first, we were enamoured at the novelty of this new way of interfacing with our clients. As time has marched on, we have gained new perspectives on some of the

Being asked by a loved one to act as an executor of their estate is not always the honour some think it is. Administering an estate can be a difficult and burdensome process, and coupled with grieving the loss of a loved one and dealing with demanding beneficiaries, the role

Moving is hard. There are so many details to take care of, to-dos to check off, people to inform. Moving internationally is even more complicated, often involving far-reaching tax implications and a new language, among other changes. In all the confusion and rush, things can get left behind. When it’s

In doing your estate planning, it’s important to know if you or any of your intended beneficiaries are U.S. citizens. Citizenship is not always obvious to determine. It may sound farfetched, but a person can be a U.S. citizen without knowing it. It’s important to consider the tax implications that

If you take on the role of executor, trustee, or attorney for property, it is important to understand you will be acting as a fiduciary. Each of these roles is defined by a distinct set of legal principles and rules which constitute fiduciary law. They require that you adopt a

A Look at Resulting Trusts When leaving money to their children, clients generally have two objectives: (1) to make things as simple as possible for their children, and (2) to pay the least amount of taxes. Clients want to ensure that the wealth they have accumulated over their lifetime actually

Major legislative changes in estate law are rare. However, we appear to be on the cusp of just such a change in Ontario. On February 16th, the Ontario Government introduced the Accelerating Access to Justice Act, 2021. Bill 245 has passed first reading and been referred to the Standing Committee on

If not carefully planned for, the amount of compensation paid to the executor(s) for administering an estate or to the trustee(s) for administering any ongoing trusts (collectively referred to as the “trustees”) has the potential to become a contentious issue. In the scope of estate planning, compensation must be part

What are some of the trips and traps to be aware of from an estate planning viewpoint if you are a Canadian, but you have assets or other connections south of the border? In this blog, I will give a few concrete examples drawn from my experience of the problems