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Estate Planning

Toronto Estate Law Blog

Provided by Hull & Hull.

Post Frequency: 10.9/day

Last Entry: April 01, 2011 at 08:48:24

The Business of Death: Funeral Industry Meeting the Needs of Different Communities

Posted on September 04, 2009
Ontario now has its first eco-friendly burial ground. Read Sarah Hyndman Patrick's previous blog on green burials for some more insight on this growing trend. Cobourg Union Cemetery caters to the eco-conscious. They insure that nothing goes into the ground that is not harmless and biodegradable...

Animal Rights Groups Object to Trustees' Distribution of Leona Helmsley's Charitable Trust

Posted on September 03, 2009
The Leona Hemsley's estate saga continues. Last month, three animal protection groups filed a petition requesting that the court appeal a previous decision that allowed the trustees of Helmsley's estate sole discretion to determine how charitable trust funds would be distributed...

Common Law Spouse of Popular Author questions Sweden's inheritance laws

Posted on September 02, 2009
I recently finished reading The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Swedish author, Stieg Larsson. Larsson is one the world's best selling authors, having sold 20 million books worldwide. He is currently on both the hardcover and paperback fiction bestsellers lists for the Globe and Mail and the New York Times...

The Family Law Act - Hull on Estates #178

Posted on September 02, 2009
Listen to: The Family Law Act - Hull on Estates #178 This week on Hull on Estates Paul Trudelle and Sarah Fitzpatrick discuss the Family Law Act and the elections of equalizations under the Act. If you have any comments, send us an email at hull...

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The Price for Spending Eternity with Marilyn Monroe

Posted on September 01, 2009
Earlier this month, Elsie Poncher posted on eBay her late husband's crypt for sale. The unique feature about the crypt is its location directly above the crypt of Hollywood icon, Marilyn Monroe in Westwood Village Memorial Park cemetery. Mrs...

Lost Wills - Part 2 - Hull on Estates and Succession Planning #179

Posted on September 01, 2009
Listen to: Lost Wills - Part 2 - Hull on Estates and Succession Planning #179 This week on Hull on Estates and Succession Planning, Ian Hull and Jordan Atin continue their discussion about the importance of Wills and the emotional nature of evaluating the assets of an estate...

Palliative Care - An Overview

Posted on August 31, 2009
Palliative care is a specialized kind of health care for people living with life-threatening illness, usually in the advanced stages. The foremost goal of palliative care is to achieve the highest quality of life (for the patient and their family) in its end stages...

Funeral Industry Update: Doggie Edition

Posted on August 28, 2009
As, no doubt, everyone is aware, Wednesday was National Dog Day in the United States. In Atlanta, they celebrated the day with a special groundbreaking ceremony to mark the beginning of the construction of the latest addition to the Deceased Pet Care family...

Investment Advisor Accused of Exploiting Elderly Client

Posted on August 27, 2009
The recent decision in TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. (TD Waterhouse Investment Advice) v. Little caught my eye earlier this week. The case did not involve an estate dispute. Rather, it was an action brought by TD Waterhouse seeking repayment of loans it had made to an employee it later terminated...

Oh Ministry of Defence! - You Gotta Lotta 'splainin' to Do!

Posted on August 26, 2009
The British Ministry of Defence is in some hot water after apparently losing some of the last will and testaments of soldiers that were killed while deployed in Afghanistan. Despite a 'frantic investigation' by the ministry, the wills of at least four marines are still missing...

Newsman Cronkite's Will Revealed

Posted on August 25, 2009
Walter Cronkite's last will and testament has been revealed – and he left his girlfriend out in the cold. Cronkite, the legendary newsman perhaps best known for anchoring the CBS Evening News for almost 20 years, dated Joanna Simon, sister to singer Carly Simon, for the four years prior to his death...

Discussing Your Estate Plans - Hull on Estates #177

Posted on August 25, 2009
Listen to: Discussing Your Estate Plans - Hull on Estates #177 This week on Hull on Estates, Sharon Davis and Jordan Atin talk about the importance of discussing your estate plans with your family before you pass away . They relate this to a recent article that Jordan Atin wrote on Michael Jackson's Will...

Lost Wills - Hull on Estates and Succession Planning #178

Posted on August 25, 2009
Listen to: Lost Wills - Hull on Estates and Succession Planning #178 This week on Hull on Estates and Succession Planning, Ian Hull and Jordan Atin discuss the difficulties of losing your Will and how to overcome them. If you have any comments, send us an email at hullandhull@gmail...

Traumatic Brain Injury

Posted on August 24, 2009
Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) is defined as sudden damage to the brain, occurring after birth, as a result of an external force (e.g. crash, assault, fall). The effects of TBI are determined by the location and severity of the injury, as well as the age and general health of the individual...

Vacation Preparation - Hull on Estate and Succession Planning #177

Posted on August 24, 2009
Listen to: Vacation Preparation - Hull on Estate and Succession Planning #177 This week on Hull on Estate and Succession Planning, Ian Hull and Jordan Atin discuss the importance of having your Will in order before going on vacation. If you have any comments, send us an email at hullandhull@gmail...

Helpful Resource: Basic Tax and GST Guide for Lawyers 2008-2009

Posted on August 21, 2009
David M. Sherman's Basic Tax and GST Guide for Lawyers 2008-2009 (Toronto: Carswell, 2008) is a helpful resource for lawyers not specializing in tax law. The section on Wills and Estates (chapter 7) is concise, easy to follow, and the annotations are precise...

Answers to Questions We Never Ask: Revocation by Destruction

Posted on August 20, 2009
Q: How is a will actually revoked, other than by marriage or making a new will? A: See section 15 of Ontario's Succession Law Reform Act ("SLRA"), which enumerates revocation events (marriage depending on the will, making a new will, a proper written revocation, and destruction of the will)...

Section 72(1)(e) SLRA: express/written trust instrument is a required element

Posted on August 19, 2009
Part V of Ontario's Succession Law Reform Act ("SLRA") establishes a mechanism whereby qualifying dependants can claim support from the estate of a deceased. Section 72 of the SLRA is a deeming provision that includes certain non-estate assets as part of the estate for the purposes of calculating the value of the estate, and allows such assets to be charged ("clawed back") by a support Order made under section 63 of the SLRA...

Admissible Evidence - Hull on Estates #176

Posted on August 19, 2009
Listen to: Admissible Evidence - Hull on Estates #176 This week on Hull on Estates, Rick Bickhram and Megan Connolly discuss what types of evidence are admissible throughout the interpretation of a Will. If you have any comments, send us an email at hull...

$14 Billion Estate Including Offshore Trusts, No Will, 9 kids, Multiple Unmarried Spouses, One Wife, etc.

Posted on August 18, 2009
Wang Yung-Ching died at the age of 91 in New Jersey without a will (so far). Of course, New Jersey has intestacy laws. But according to the New Jersey's Star-Ledger, Mr. Wang owned a multi-national conglomerate worth around US$7 billion (the basic American Dream story: immigrant founds Formosa Plastics)...

Multiple Attorneys for Personal Care: Too Many Cooks in the Kitchen

Posted on August 17, 2009
While employed in management in the assisted living field, I was tasked with the facilitation and implementation of the personal care decisions of my residents. Where the resident was capable, they of course directed their own personal care, including scoping out their vision for advance directives, should the future need arise for these to be considered...

Death is only the Beginning...

Posted on August 14, 2009
An article from mental_floss magazine has showcased ten things a body can do after death. My particular favourites are: Get Married! In China, ghost marriages —the practice of setting up deceased relatives with suitable spouses, dead or alive— is on the rise...

Leaving a Legacy

Posted on August 13, 2009
A good friend of mine recently reminded me that death is not just about dividing up the spoils (a common theme in estate litigation), but also about remembering the lasting contributions made by a person during their lifetime. I was reminded of this in reading about the recent deaths of two well-known figures, Donald Marshall and Eunice Kennedy Shriver...

Cy Pres Awards and Class Action Settlements

Posted on August 12, 2009
Cy pres is the equitable doctrine under which a court interprets a document containing a gift to charity by substituting another charity to reflect as closely as possible the donor's intention. Courts use cy pres when a donor's original charitable purpose cannot be exactly fulfilled...

Elderly Man Loses Right to Manage His Own Money

Posted on August 11, 2009
In a recent news item out of Queensland, Australia, a 77-year-old man has failed in his attempt to regain control of his financial affairs. The elderly gentleman had apparently squandered part of his money on hundreds of calls to sex-chat lines...

Tax Issues for Estate Planning - Hull on Estate and Succession Planning #176

Posted on August 11, 2009
Listen to: Tax Issues for Estate Planning - Hull on Estate and Succession Planning #176 This week on Hull on Estate and Succession Planning, Ian Hull goes through a summary of considerations for dealing with Canadian tax issues from an estate planning point of view...

Tax Issues - Hull on Estates #175

Posted on August 11, 2009
Listen to: Tax Issues - Hull on Estates #175 This week on Hull on Estates, Ian Hull discusses tax issues, specifically those concerning Canadian clients who are leaving the country. If you have any comments, send us an email at hull.lawyers@gmail.com or leave a comment on our blog.

Polypharmacy and Seniors

Posted on August 10, 2009
Polypharmacy refers to the taking of multiple drugs by a single patient. As more and more drugs are introduced on the market that address the diseases and chronic conditions associated with aging, it is no surprise that it is the elderly who are most affected by polypharmacy...

Choosing Guardians for Children

Posted on August 07, 2009
Although one of the perils of running an estate blog over the past month has been (with apologies to CNN) the risk of over-reporting on the estate of Michael Jackson, the media frenzy has nonetheless served to shine a light on certain aspects of estate planning that otherwise go unnoticed...

Another Fresh Perspective on Succession Planning

Posted on August 06, 2009
I recently had the opportunity to meet with a gentleman named Franco Lombardo from Vancounver B.C. who has pioneered the concept of "authentic wealth" in the context of succession planning. Franco has written two books: Life After Wealth and Money Motto both of which deal with and elaborate on his core concepts of devising strategies for individuals who want to create a meaningful personal legacy...

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