Darren Lund

Total 48 Posts

 Website

Darren Lund is a member of the Trust, Wills, Estates and Charities at Fasken, Toronto office. Darren has expertise in a broad range of estate planning matters, including multiple wills, inter vivos trusts, disability planning, estate freezing, and planning for beneficiaries and assets outside Canada. Darren advises trustees and beneficiaries on all aspects of estate administration, both contentious and non-contentious, and his experience includes passing of fiduciary accounts, trust variations, post-mortem tax planning, and administering the Canadian estates of non-residents. He also speaks and writes on a variety of related topics such as estate planning for spouses and couples, inheriting overseas property and estate planning for persons with disabilities. He previously practised estates law at a large national law firm. Email: dlund@fasken.com

Henson Trusts Revisited

• • 0 Comments

In January, the British Columbia Court of Appeal released its decision in S.A. v. Metro Vancouver Housing Corporation (“S.A.”), 2017 BCCA 2, dismissing the appeal of S.A., who was the original Petitioner. In its reasons, the B.C. Court of Appeal includes a discussion of trusts commonly referred to as “Henson Trusts”[1]. On November 16, 2017, S.A. was granted leave to appeal the decision to the Supreme Court of Canada. The….

Henson Trusts Revisited Continue Reading »

Estate Planning, Trusts

New Amendments to the Principal Residence Rules Relating to Trusts

• • 0 Comments

On October 3, 2016 the Minister of Finance announced a series of tax measures relating to the principal residence exemption. The October 3 measures had not been implemented when the government introduced its budget on March 22, 2017. As part of that budget, the government confirmed its intention to move forward with the October 3 measures. The budget implementation bill was released on October 25, 2017, and includes some substantive….

New Amendments to the Principal Residence Rules Relating to Trusts Continue Reading »

Uncategorized

Further Reform Needed to Support Disability Benefits Recipients

• • 0 Comments

As my fellow bloggers have recently written, changes have been made to the Ontario Disability Support Program (“ODSP”) effective September 1, 2017, three of which are of particular importance for estate planning purposes: The amount a benefits recipient can receive in the form of gifts, trust distributions, and life insurance proceeds (“voluntary payments”) has been increased from $6,000 per year to $10,000 per year; The benefits recipient can receive a….

Further Reform Needed to Support Disability Benefits Recipients Continue Reading »

Disability, Tax Issues

“Unlucky But Not Unfair”

• • 0 Comments

An interesting case recently appeared in the Ontario Reports that highlights a risk in making an inter vivos gift of cash using a cheque, particularly where the donor is near death. In the case, Teixeria v. Estate of Markgraf et al., the donor, Mary Markgraf, was nearing her death. She continued to have capacity to make a will as well as inter vivos gifts. As part of her planning, Mary….

“Unlucky But Not Unfair” Continue Reading »

Uncategorized

Alter Ego Trusts, The Deemed Disposition, and Spousal Rollovers

• • 0 Comments

As a result of changes to the law over the last several years, such as increased reporting requirements during the probate process, the loss of graduate rate taxation for most testamentary trusts, and restrictions on the ability of most trusts to use the principal residence exemption, alter ego trusts may be used more frequently, either to take advantage of a benefit (e.g. the principal residence exemption) or because a former….

Alter Ego Trusts, The Deemed Disposition, and Spousal Rollovers Continue Reading »

Trusts

Pre-Conception Parentage Agreements

• • 0 Comments

Over my past several blogs I have looked at the new rules for determining parentage introduced in the All Families Are Equal Act (Parentage and Related Registrations Statute Law Amendment), 2016, S.O. 2016, c. 23 (“Act”), since it is important for estate planners to understand and appreciate the variety of family structures that our clients, and their intended beneficiaries, may have. The final component of the new parentage rules I….

Pre-Conception Parentage Agreements Continue Reading »

Estate Planning
Scroll to Top