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Celebrating

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Category: Estate Planning

Battle of the Foundations

Charitable foundations are structures for long term, flexible and customized philanthropy. Both private and public foundations enable donors to make long term gifts and have various benefits, including, creating a lasting legacy, involving family members in the giving process, and charitable tax credits. These structures may be attractive for donors

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Avoiding Executor Dissent: The More Not the Merrier?

Being asked by a loved one to act as an executor of their estate is not always the honour some think it is. Administering an estate can be a difficult and burdensome process, and coupled with grieving the loss of a loved one and dealing with demanding beneficiaries, the role

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Are You or One of Your Beneficiaries Unknowingly American?

In doing your estate planning, it’s important to know if you or any of your intended beneficiaries are U.S. citizens. Citizenship is not always obvious to determine. It may sound farfetched, but a person can be a U.S. citizen without knowing it. It’s important to consider the tax implications that

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Ontario Estate Law Gets an Overdue Update

Major legislative changes in estate law are rare. However, we appear to be on the cusp of just such a change in Ontario. On February 16th, the Ontario Government introduced the Accelerating Access to Justice Act, 2021. Bill 245 has passed first reading and been referred to the Standing Committee on

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The Big Problem with Leaving Gifts to Minors

Many of our clients often wish to leave a small gift to the younger people in their lives, for example grandchildren. This gift is normally nothing extravagant, often a small legacy to help the future generation with their education, purchase a car, a down payment towards a home, or maybe

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Three Ways to Keep Your Estate Plan Flexible

Starting a new year is always a good time to ensure that your personal affairs are in order, including your estate plan. Not only is it important to have an up-to-date will and powers of attorney, but it is important to have an estate plan which can, to the extent possible,

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An Update on Virtual Witnessing and Electronic Wills

One of the most common questions our clients ask is whether they can sign their Wills and Powers of Attorney with an electronic signature. Our lives are getting busier, our goal of reducing paper waste is more focused, and clients are understandably questioning the historically strict formalities of executing estate

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