Exceptional solutions. Your needs are as unique as you.

Blog

OSullivan-Estate-Lawyers-LLP-logo

Celebrating

our 10th year
blog anniversary

Category: Wills and Separate Situs Wills

The Cautionary Tale of Mutual Wills

Estate planning deals with often complex family situations, including the needs of blended families with complicated personal relationships. The goal of estate planning is to ensure your intentions for your loved ones are carried out. There are several ways to address blended family and second marriage situations so that the

Read More »

Never Too Young To Start: Estate Planning

Millennials are a loosely defined group of people (those born approximately between 1981 to 2001) who are now beginning to enter the workforce and acquire their own assets. With an aging population it is inevitable that there will be a significant wealth transfer between baby boomers and millennials over the

Read More »

Going Paperless: Electronic Wills

The increasing pace of technological change is our reality, and when it comes to estate planning, there is no exception. The traditional formalities for wills and powers of attorney are stricter than for most legal documents: for example in Ontario a will has to be in writing and signed at

Read More »

Keeping Things Up-To-Date

Putting estate planning documents in place can be a daunting task, but it does not end there. Estate planning is an organic process that requires ongoing attention and revision. Circumstances in your life will continue to change and your main objective is to ensure that your wishes and intentions are

Read More »

No Estate Planner is an Island

A well drafted will is not worth the (stack of) paper it is written on if it fails to achieve the client’s objectives. Those objectives are often defeated where an estate plan is not properly designed, implemented, or maintained. Under the traditional approach to estate planning, the lawyer typically designs

Read More »

Start the New Year off on the Right Foot

As of today, according to the Gregorian calendar, we are just over one month away from ringing in the New Year. If you are already contemplating your New Year’s resolution, we thought we would help out in this blog post by providing you with a shortlist of “thinking points” for

Read More »

For Better or For Worse… Especially If You Move

There are many things that we think about and plan for when we move–furniture, movers, schools, utilities… I could go on and on. There are even more things that we plan for when we move to another jurisdiction-language, taxes, visas, driving laws… and so it goes. But one thing you

Read More »

The Emerging Role of Protectors in Canada

A “protector” is a person who is given special rights and powers under a will or a trust instrument to participate in the administration of an estate or a trust. Protectors generally provide an oversight function–they ensure the trustees are administering the trust in accordance with the testator’s or settlor’s

Read More »

Don’t let cross-border properties turn into cross-border pains

Perhaps I should refrain from re-stating the obvious, but it bears repeating–we live in an increasingly global and mobile society, where people move from jurisdiction to jurisdiction with relative ease. And when we’re not picking up and moving residences, we’re travelling to foreign destinations and buying property, opening bank accounts

Read More »