O’Sullivan Estate Lawyers
in the Media
O’Sullivan Estate Lawyers in the Media
The Toronto-based trust and estate lawyers at O’Sullivan Estate Lawyers are regularly sought by reporters, editors, as well as TV and radio producers for their thought leadership, opinions and analysis of important and topical trust and estate issues which impact families in wealth succession and planning.
They are also regular columnists for The Lawyer’s Daily, published by LexisNexis, one of Canada’s most important publications for the legal profession, as well as Advisor’s Edge, published by Newcom. The firm is also a member of Mondaq, and has a robust listing of articles which are distributed through the Mondaq Global Network, with more than 1 million members worldwide, including lawyers, accountants, as well as C-suite executives and business owners.
Stephanie Battista and Marly Peikes promoted to partner
O’Sullivan Estate Lawyers promotes two associates to partner
CRA won’t administer proposed new trust reporting rules
Expanded trust reporting requirements announced four years ago were set to be effective, but feds still haven’t passed legislation to enable them
In an update released today, the CRA confirmed it will administer trust tax filings under existing rules — the less intensive reporting requirements — until legislation supporting the new rules receives royal assent.
Despite the new guidance, “trustees should still be prepared for the new rules when they are enacted,” Roth said.
Life and death: Choosing an attorney for personal care
Who should make these decisions is a challenging question. In choosing one or more attorneys, the qualities and attributes for this role are very different then what are required for financial decision-making, which your attorney for property is responsible for under your financial power of attorney.
Using language to make wills more inclusive
The appropriate use of pronouns is important to many aspects of our lives. Wills and estate planning are no different. Will drafting historically incorporated binary language in describing beneficiaries, executors and the testators themselves. It is still very common to see individuals addressed as “Mr.” or “Ms.,” children described specifically as “daughters” or “sons,” beneficiaries referred to as “he/him” or “she/her”, and we even occasionally still see the term “testatrix” or “executrix” used.
Complex estate claims of the second marriage
Second and subsequent spousal relationships are not only often more complex personally, but they can create significant additional legal complexity in planning one’s estate. Unfortunately, planning to deal with these special issues is often overlooked or not done in a timely manner, which can lead to legal claims against the estate after death.
Landmark transparency deadline looms for trustees
“Globally, we’re seeing a push for more transparency from a tax policy perspective, and that is making its way to trust and corporate policy at home,” Roth said. “These new filing requirements seem to be aimed at money laundering and tax liability issues. It’s certainly possible trusts are being used for purposes like that, but it’s difficult to say at this point if the concern is warranted or whether these new measures will assist in preventing them.”
What future holds for wealth, inheritance tax measures
It is likely an understatement that worldwide there is a sense of trepidation among taxpayers on what measures governments will take to raise tax revenues to pay for the pandemic, and as well to respond to increasing wealth inequality, which the pandemic has exacerbated.
Smart giving: Charitable gifts under your will
In addition to satisfying any philanthropic objectives, there are also tax benefits with donating to charity under your will. When you make a donation to an eligible charity, you will get charitable tax credits which can be used to reduce your income taxes.