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.
The second spouse and estate planning: Smoothing a bumpy road
In the current interest and inflationary environment and with longer life expectancies, more funds may need to be allocated to provide for a surviving spouse’s lifetime needs. Additionally, with inflation, asset allocation will be key to preserve the spending value of capital put aside for a second spouse.
Becoming a non-resident with TFSA, RRSP accounts
The most commonly known plans are Tax-Free Savings Accounts (TFSAs) and Registered Retirement Savings Plans (RRSPs). There are certain rules and restrictions to be aware of for Canadians who have such plans and become non-residents for tax purposes.
How does property ownership work in common law relationships?
“I think sometimes people are under the mistaken belief that not being married makes things simpler,” says Stephanie Battista, partner at O’Sullivan Estate Lawyers. “But that’s actually not the case.”
Solving the Multijurisdictional Jigsaw Puzzle: Which Law Applies?
But what happens on death to determine which law will apply? The body of law called the “conflict of laws” creates rules to determine the applicable law to govern succession on death. The rules are complex, sometimes vague, and as well, vary significantly between common law jurisdictions, such as the Canadian provinces and territories (except Quebec), the United States, England and Wales, Australia and New Zealand, and civil law jurisdictions such as Quebec, France, Italy, Japan and most Latin America countries, and many more.
Estate planning with joint assets: Think of your executor
All this additional investigative work the executor must do to determine the deceased’s intention may cause additional delays and increased costs in the estate’s administration.
Estate administration deadlines, concerns
Most matters are not subject to timing issues or require immediate attention, although estate trustees (the current Ontario term for executors or administrators) should administer an estate in a timely fashion, and can be criticized for failing to do so.
Personal care: Guidelines for estate attorneys
Most directions to attorneys for personal care start and finish with end-of-life issues. It is my view that guidelines to attorneys for personal care should be much more comprehensive and extensive. Simply appointing decision-makers, but then not providing directions on key issues of importance is not adequate to ensure a client’s wishes are carried out, and that their well-being is safeguarded.
The uncertainty of beneficiary designation
So, where are we today? These conflicting decisions have left uncertainty for estate lawyers and financial advisers with respect to beneficiary designations. Estate planning professionals are waiting patiently for a higher court to give more clarity or for legislative amendments to protect the validity of beneficiary designations.