our 10th year
blog anniversary
In my prior blog of March 3, 2020, “Inheritance Tax, Wealth Tax and More Capital Gains Tax: The Future of Canadian Taxation”, I raised the issue of whether new forms of tax might be introduced on the Canadian scene, including an inheritance tax or an annual wealth tax. My blog
One of the issues in wealth advising and planning is the regulation of those who provide financial product sales advice and financial planning services—often offered under the nomenclature of estate planning or retirement planning advice. A lot has happened recently in many jurisdictions, including Canada and the U.S., as regulators
In my blog distributed to you on April 7, 2020, I told readers to stay tuned as hundreds of years of strict formalities might soon change due to Covid-19. But little did I know that these changes would come later that very day in two jurisdictions: my home province of Ontario
Executing estate planning documents during a global pandemic is a problem facing lawyers throughout many parts of the world. Traditional formalities for wills and powers of attorney are stricter than for most legal documents. In Ontario and many common law jurisdictions, the law requires a will to be in writing and
Whether it’s a first relationship for a millennial or a second or subsequent relationship for others including baby boomers and seniors, these days more and more couples are choosing to live common law rather than marrying. According to a 2017 census, 21.3% of all couples in Canada were living common
With the start of a new year and a new decade, we tend to focus more than usual on important personal goals and objectives. One goal to consider is creating a family contingency plan. Your plan can be short and simple, or lengthy and detailed. In brief, it entails creating
In a previous blog, “The Movement to Transparency and the Erosion of Privacy” we wrote about the global move to greater transparency by government and taxing authorities which they claim is necessary to combat money laundering and tax evasion. As part of that agenda which the government asserts is necessary
For those of us who live and work in a common law world, it is hard to imagine that we are by far the minority. Most of the world is governed by a civil law regime, customary law or religious law. Continental Europe, Russia, China, Japan, South America, Mexico and
One of the benefits that a trust and estate lawyer like myself enjoys is that we deal with people of every background, age and personality type and often in very profound ways. In short, we encounter all the diversity that humanity can offer. We see many family situations which gives
The psychology of wealth is emerging as a distinct area of academic study and research. With aging baby boomers, and the trillion dollar wealth transfer that is now beginning to take place, we need to know more about wealth, how it impacts families, and how to successfully transition wealth. The