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Toronto Ontario Estate Law Blog
Considerations in Giving to Your Children
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
Estate Planning When A Child Moves to the U.S.
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
Is Canada Second Best on ‘Best Interest Standard’?
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
Medical Assistance in Dying (MAID): New Developments
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
Virtual Execution of Estate Planning Documents During Covid-19: Update
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
It Takes a Pandemic: The Challenge of Executing Estate Planning Documents During Covid-19
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 and Joint Partner Trusts: The Ideal Candidate
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
Death or Incapacity of a Trustee: Planning Ahead Doesn’t Solve Everything
While it will likely never be the subject of a hit play like “Death of a Salesman”, the death or incapacity of a trustee can have serious practical and financial implications for a trust, and by extension, the beneficiaries of the trust. All too often, the practical and legal requirements
Inheritance Tax, Wealth Tax and More Capital Gains Tax: The Future of Canadian Taxation?
With an aging population, and the trillion dollar transfer of wealth to occur in the face of a shrinking income tax base, and in the face of what some assert is an increasing concentration of wealth at the top, the burning question is whether new forms of death taxes will
Death Taxes: Good or Bad and Why Do We Have Them?
In early February, I had the opportunity and pleasure of participating in a panel discussion of lawyers from several jurisdictions, including the U.S., Mexico, and Italy, at an international legal conference on the interesting topic “Inheritance Tax – Should More Countries Implement It?”. We discussed and compared how our different
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