our 10th year
blog anniversary
Back in 2023, my colleague, Marly Peikes, wrote a blog demystifying some common legal terms used in Ontario estate and trust planning. While an entire textbook could be filled with estate-related legal jargon, for now, we want to provide our readers with greater clarity on even more commonly used terms
What is a Power of Appointment? A power of appointment is a valuable estate planning tool, which, broadly speaking, is a power that is frequently conferred on a person, including an executor, and the trustee and/or beneficiary of a testamentary or inter vivos trust (the “donee”), in relation to the
Congratulations—you’ve started the year by accomplishing an important goal: you’ve signed your Will! You feel good knowing you’ve chosen a trusted executor, protected your hard-earned assets for your children, and provided for the people you care about most. But before you file it away and move on, there are a
Clarence Darrow once said: “Someday I hope to write a book where the royalties will pay for the copies I give away.” Royalties are payments made to the owner of an asset for the right to use that asset, typically being a percentage of the income derived from such use.
In November of 2023, we wrote about Ontario’s topical “validating” provision – section 21.1 of the Succession Law Reform Act (SLRA) – and whether it might risk “emboldening those seeking self-help remedies.” More than a year later, the case law has continued to evolve on this provision, and I feel
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
Wills can take many forms, for example, Cecil George Harris’s historic will, etched onto a panel of farm machinery under which he was trapped and later succumbed to injury, or the Court of Appeal for Ontario’s 2022 finding that a suicide note was a valid will. While the technical legal
Typically, we tend to think of the beneficiaries of an estate under a will as being individuals or organizations: family members, friends, and charities. These beneficiaries usually receive their gift outright or through a trust created under the will (i.e., a testamentary trust). However, for those who have created trusts
“When Should You Have a Local or Separate Situs Will or Power of Attorney?” Many of our readers, especially business owners, may be familiar with the concept of having multiple wills in the same jurisdiction, where each will governs different classes of assets—usually used to avoid paying estate administration tax
Now that we are well and truly into calendar 2024, we have the benefit of hindsight. Here are four important Ontario Court of Appeal decisions on trust and estate matters as well as the 2023 “Case of the Year.” Four important Court of Appeal decisions While the Supreme Court of