Toronto Ontario Estate Law Blog

On an intestacy (when a person dies without a will), each Canadian province and territory provides for a mandatory scheme to distribute the deceased’s property, which is typically between the testator’s surviving spouse and children, if any, and alternately to other relatives. Some provinces and territories provide a spouse with

Last November 2019, I had the opportunity to organize a session and speak at the STEP Spotlight Conference in London, U.K., along with colleagues from several countries, including Brazil, U.S., Belgium, France, and the U.K. We discussed how our different countries tax on death and how double or even triple

In our previous blog, “Getting Ready for the New Trust Reporting and Disclosure Rules”, we wrote about the new Canadian trust reporting and disclosure rules coming into effect in 2021. Whatever you may think of the new requirements, if you are a trustee of an existing “express” trust (i.e. a trust

As people are living longer, often well into their nineties, the way wealth is transferred to the next generation is starting to shift. The paradigm of waiting to pass family wealth to children on the second parent’s death is being reconsidered because parents are living longer and children have a

A Canadian estate with U.S. connections can face complications due to the presence of any one of a number of factors. Sometimes these issues are known, and sometimes events occur which were not anticipated. When a child moves to the U.S., parents should review their estate plan and consider what

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

It was heartbreaking to learn that Jean Truchon, who fought so valiantly to expand assisted-dying laws in Canada, felt forced to advance his medically assisted death procedure from June 2020 to early April. He chose to do so because of the COVID-19 pandemic and his inability to spend time with

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

Alter Ego Trusts (“AETs”) and Joint Partner Trusts (“JPTs”) are effective tools to assist in probate and incapacity planning. AETs and JPTs are inter vivos trusts (meaning they are set up during a person’s lifetime), to which persons 65 years or older can transfer assets on a tax-deferred basis. An