Darren Lund

Saskatchewan recently amended its intestacy rules through the enactment of The Intestate Succession Act, 2019 (the “Act”), replacing the former 1996 statute. “Intestacy rules” are the rules that govern the division of a deceased person’s estate if the person dies without a will, or a portion of an estate if a person dies with a will but the will does not dispose of the entire estate.[1] The Act differs in….

In 2016, the federal government introduced changes to the definition of “principal residence” in the Income Tax Act (Canada). The changes significantly restricted the types of personal trusts that are eligible to claim the principal residence exemption (“PRE”). As a result of the changes, only three categories of personal trusts are eligible to use the PRE: life interest trusts, i.e. alter ego trusts, joint partner trusts, spousal trusts, and self-benefit….

I was recently asked about the tax implications of creating a life interest in real property. When I use the term “life interest” in this context I am not referring to a typical scenario in which a property is transferred to trustees and held in a trust, the terms of which provide a beneficiary, often referred to as the lifetime beneficiary, with the exclusive use and enjoyment of the property….

In the 2019 federal budget, the government announced changes to the rules in the Income Tax Act (“ITA”) that govern registered disability savings plans, or RDSP’s (also referred to in this blog as a “plan”). On July 30, 2019, the Minister of Finance released the draft legislation and explanatory notes for those changes. Under the existing rules, the beneficiary of an RDSP must qualify for the disability tax credit (“DTC”)….