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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

Who Has Standing to Bring a Will Challenge?

Posted on August 07, 2008
As I am sipping on my coffee this morning, I am thinking to myself, who can commence a will challenge? A will challenge can be commenced pursuant to 75.06(1) of the Rules of Civil Procedure. Rule 75.06(1) is a procedural remedy that permits any person who appears to have a financial interest in an estate to apply for directions or move for directions in another proceeding...

OH NO, the Residual Gift Has Lapsed. Now What?

Posted on August 06, 2008
Yesterday, I considered the issue of failed bequests and devises, however I was left scratching my head when I considered the issue of residual gifts that have failed. As I considered yesterday, Section 23 of the Succession Law Reform Act, does not apply to failed residual gifts...

Calculating Compensation - Hull on Estate and Succession Planning #124

Posted on August 05, 2008
Listen to Calculating Compensation This week, Ian and Suzana discuss the number of emails they received last week about cross-reference analysis and compensation. Ian references 5 cases that are important to this subject: 1. Logan vs Laing - Ontario Court of Appeal2...

Settlement Issues - Hull on Estates #122

Posted on August 05, 2008
Listen to Settlement Issues This week on Hull on Estates, Paul Trudelle and Christopher Graham talk about settlement issues - considerations that you have to take into account and the potential implications of not settling. Comments? Send us an email at hull...

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Does a Lapsed Gift Fail?

Posted on August 05, 2008
There is the view by some that issues surrounding the interpretations of Wills can be mind-numbing. From time to time I tend to enjoy dusting off my book of consolidated estate statutes and reviewing some of the basic tenets of estate law, which makes our area of practice so dynamic...

Blogging, Virtual Law Offices and ... Fly Fishing?

Posted on August 01, 2008
Hard as I tried, I was unable to find any noteworthy connection between these things! But as I cast my fishing rod yesterday out in my favorite Bay in Prince Edward Island (I've been working from my summer cottage the past couple of weeks), I marveled at how accessible technology has made working away from what we've all come to define as the traditional "office"...

New "Facebook" Trusts and Estate Attorneys Group Formed

Posted on July 31, 2008
Estate lawyers now have another reason to consider opening a Facebook account, that is if they haven't already done so. A new Facebook group for estate practitioners has been created south of the border by estate attorney Jill L. Miller of Jill Miller & Associates P...

Preparing for your Estate Planning Meeting

Posted on July 30, 2008
"I say to you: Make Perfect Your Will. I say: Take no thought of the harvest. But only of the proper sowing". T.S. Eliot, Choruses from the Rock.These words, written a century ago, still resonate today. Careful estate planning can ensure the most effective transfer of wealth to the next generation...

The Absentee Act - Hull on Estates #121

Posted on July 30, 2008
Listen to The Absentee ActThis week on Hull on Estates, Christopher Graham and David Smith talk about The Absentee Act and some of the different scenarios that it applies to.Comments? Send us an email at hull.lawyers@gmail.com, call us on the comment line at 206-350-6636, or leave us a comment on the Hull on Estates blog.

The Emotional Toll of Estate Planning

Posted on July 29, 2008
The very thought of planning for one's death can be an emotional and anxious time for clients hoping to create an estate plan. Questions such as "who do I trust enough to be my executor?" and "who will care for my children after I'm gone?" are difficult ones to ask, and often even more difficult to answer...

The Question of Compensation and Complaints - Hull on Estate and Succession Planning Podcast #123

Posted on July 29, 2008
Listen to The Question of Compensation and Complaints.This week on Hull on Estates and Succession Planning, Ian and Suzana discuss the question of compensation and complaints regarding compensation.Comments? Send us an email at hullandhull@gmail.com, call us on the comment line at 206-457-1985, or leave us a comment on the Hull on Estate and Succession Planning blog.

A Good Year to Die?

Posted on July 28, 2008
An interesting controversy has been brewing in the United States on the issue of estate tax in the year 2010. Estate tax in the United States is a tax imposed on the transfer of the "taxable estate" of a deceased person, including those cases where property is transferred via a will or the laws of intestacy...

Dominican Friars Spotted in Manitoba

Posted on July 25, 2008
My last blog this week examines the application of our favourite Rule 57.07 - Liability of Solicitor for Costs - in the context of affidavits. We (and our clients) have all suffered through The Angry Affidavit. In Manitoba, which has comparable legislative provisions authorizing and governing cost awards, drafting such an affidavit can be expensive for the drafting lawyer...

Rule 74.14(2): Short-Cut to Probate

Posted on July 24, 2008
There seems to be a rule for every situation in estates litigation. Consider the oft-ignored Rule 74.14(2), the short-cut to probate rule.Probate applications are refused where the application material raises legal issues. Normally, the next step is to bring a motion for directions to have a judge rule on the legal issues raised by the application...

The Horror: Sean Connery's Son Required to Get a Job

Posted on July 23, 2008
Imagine that one day, you were told you had to get a job. You were told to go make a living, and that hard work was good. Not only that, you would have to work FOR THE REST OF YOUR LIFE. According to virtually every news source in the British Isles, that's exactly what Sir Sean Connery is being accused of doing to his only son, Jason...

Privacy vs. PIPEDA: Solicitor-Client Privilege Wins

Posted on July 22, 2008
When an irresistable force meets an immovable object, we appeal to the Supreme Court of Canada. In Canada (Privacy Commissioner) v. Blood Tribe Department of Health, 2008 SCC 44, the force is the Personal Information Protection of Electronic Documents Act ("PIPEDA") and the object is solicitor-client privilege...

Developments in Will Changes - Hull on Estates #120

Posted on July 22, 2008
Listen to Developments in Will Changes. This week on Hull on Estates, Ian and Suzana discuss developments in will changes. They reference cases from Key Developments in Estates and Trusts Law in Ontario ed. 2008.Comments? Send us an email at hull.lawyers@gmail...

Cases for Increasing and Decreasing Compensation - Hull on Estates and Succession Planning podcast #122

Posted on July 22, 2008
Listen to Cases for Increasing and Decreasing Compensation. This week on Hull on Estates and Succession Planning, Ian and Suzana discuss cases for increasing and decreasing compensation. Comments? Send us an email at hullandhull@gmail.com, call us on the comment line at 206-457-1985, or leave us a comment on the Hull on Estate and Succession Planning blog.

A Bronx Story: $20 million lost by public administrators

Posted on July 21, 2008
Speaking of risky U.S. investments...Public administrators of estate monies appear to have lost around $20,000,000. The place? The Bronx, NY. When a New York resident dies intestate (without a will), his or her assets are managed by these public administrators until there is a court-approved settlement...

BCE Shares: Charities Seize the Opportunity

Posted on July 18, 2008
If you have recently gone on to your favourite charity’s website or received correspondence from a charity you donate to, you will likely notice an advertisement asking if you own BCE shares. The privatization of BCE shares means that some shareholders are now looking for a way to minimize their tax liabilities from the sale of shares...

Joint Accounts: When a Sibling is the Surviving Account Holder

Posted on July 17, 2008
In a recent Ontario decision, Tiedemann v Tiedemann, the court considered whether the deceased had intended to gift to his sister the balance of funds in a joint account held by the both of them. The sister argued that her brother intended to gift to her the balance of the funds as he did not have a good relationship with his son...

Accounting Concepts and Definitions - Hull on Estate and Succession Planning #121

Posted on July 16, 2008
Listen to Accounting Concepts and Definitions This week on Hull on Estate and Succession Planning, Ian and Suzana talk about accounting concepts and definitions after receiving requests from listeners to outline a more general framework for estate administration...

Blackberries: Hazardous to your Health?

Posted on July 16, 2008
Blackberries and iPhones have been in the news a lot lately. These communication devices seem to have become irreplaceable for many Canadians and their frequent use is having an impact on the work place. This past Monday, the Globe & Mail carried a story about the potential health impacts of the chronic use of these devices...

Strategies to Prevent Estate Litigation - Hull on Estates #119

Posted on July 15, 2008
Listen to Strategies to Prevent Estate Litigation This week on Hull on Estates, Natalia Angelini and Rick Bickhram discuss tools and strategies to prevent estate litigation. Comments? Send us an email at hull.lawyers@gmail.com, call us on the comment line at 206-350-6636, or leave us a comment on the Hull on Estates blog.

A Look at Law Related Podcasts

Posted on July 15, 2008
As you probably know, Hull and Hull LLP produces two weekly podcasts that discuss issues related to the estates area and estate and succession planning. Podcasting has certainly grown in the last year and there is a lot of content out there. To learn more about our firm’s use of this social medium, read Suzana Popovic-Montag’s and Ian Hull’s blog on podcasting...

Widow sues her own children for a greater share of her husband's estate

Posted on July 14, 2008
A widow in the United Kingdom is suing her two children, her one-year-old son and three-year old-daughter, over her late husband’s estate. Taryn Dielle launched an action in London’s High Court claiming that the country’s intestacy laws do not provide her with enough money to care for her children...

GOLF AND ESTATES

Posted on July 11, 2008
Looking out of our office window on such a beautiful summer day, my mind drifted from blogging to golfing. I then struggled to make a connection between the world of trusts and estates, and thoughts of golfing.The one thing that immediately came to mind was the comment of Rodney Dangerfield’s character Al Czervic from the movie “Caddyshack” that “Golf courses and cemeteries are the biggest waste of prime real estate in America...

ARBITRATION OF LEGAL ACCOUNTS

Posted on July 10, 2008
Recently, the Ontario Superior Court of Justice struck down an arbitration clause in a retainer agreement.In Jean Estate v. Wires Jolley LLP 2008 CanLII 14538, an estate trustee and sole beneficiary of an estate entered into a retainer agreement with counsel that provided for a “success fee” of 10% of the value of the estate...

RESOMATION

Posted on July 09, 2008
A few of our past blogs discussed eco-friendly or other alternatives to a natural burial. (See Eco-Funerals - Green to the Grave and Natural Burial.) In researching an issue regarding cremation and the scattering of ashes, I came across yet another alternative: resomation...

EVEN MORE DISAPPOINTED BENEFICIARIES

Posted on July 08, 2008
The common law in Ontario now appears to clearly provide for claims by “disappointed beneficiaries” against drafting solicitors where a bequest to a beneficiary fails as a result of the negligence of the solicitor. (See Harrison v. Fallis, 2006 CanLII 19457 (ON S...

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