our 10th year
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Your digital assets include everything from your smart phone and Amazon accounts to your social media accounts and web-based banking applications. The Uniform Access to Digital Assets by Fiduciaries Act (2016), as described below, defines a digital asset as “a record that is created, recorded, transmitted or stored in digital
The current Ontario Government has implemented a couple of changes to the calculation of Estate Administration Tax (“EAT”, often called probate fees) and the process for EAT refunds which are due to take effect January 1st. It has promised further changes to the deadlines for filing an Estate Information Return
For those of us who live and work in a common law world, it is hard to imagine that we are by far the minority. Most of the world is governed by a civil law regime, customary law or religious law. Continental Europe, Russia, China, Japan, South America, Mexico and
People often wish to ensure confidentiality in doing their estate planning as an important goal. A trust is a common vehicle to do so, since court probate processes, which have been around for centuries, are public and once a will is probated it becomes a public document. The current government
Much has been written in recent years about the role of the “trusted advisor”. A trusted advisor plays a key role in achieving client goals in their best interests and is worth their weight in gold. To do so, a trusted advisor needs to be able to provide clients with
In Canada, succession rights are often discussed in the framework of testamentary freedom – see for example our previous blog regarding testamentary freedom which discusses disinheriting a beneficiary such as a child who might expect to inherit. But in many parts of the world, a person not only cannot disinherit
There are important decisions that need to be made when parents with young families prepare their wills, including who will act as guardian of their minor children should both parents die. Not only do parents want to ensure they are providing for their children financially, they also want to be
Many people who live or have assets in Ontario are concerned about the amount of Estate Administration Tax (probate fees or “EAT”) that will be payable on their death given the high rate of approximately 1.5% of the value of estate assets. One common estate planning technique for minimizing EAT
While it is less common these days for employment benefits to include a pension, many individuals still do have either a pension (not including the Canada Pension Plan, which is subject to its own rules and which is not the subject of this blog) or a locked-in retirement account (LIRA)
Everyone knows that death and taxes are two of life’s certainties, but some of us may not appreciate that our tax liabilities don’t disappear on death and that our legal representatives become responsible for sorting out our unfinished tax business. Some tax liabilities are expected to arise on or after
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