It can be frustrating when, at the end of lengthy, hard fought litigation with an even longer record a court hands down a short decision less than a page long. The parties will scrutinize the decision, reading each line of the judge’s reasons over and over again. After repeating this exercise a few times they may still come away with the question – but why?? From a policy perspective, reasons….
Philanthropy can strengthen one’s estate plan. In Canada, an estate plan may integrate charitable donations to leave a legacy to our community while taking advantage of the associated tax benefits. Such strategy can be implemented during the donor’s lifetime or upon the donor’s death. If the donor is a U.S. citizen living in Canada (hereinafter referred as a “U.S. donor”), does the strategy work? U.S. donor & U.S. Tax Filings….
Cross-Border Charitable Donation & U.S. Donor Continue Reading »
Charitable Giving, International, Philanthropy/Charitable Giving, Tax Issues, U.S. Citizen, US TaxesI’m confident that lawyers and clerks who work with assistants will agree: legal assistants are vital to the daily operations of a legal practice. There have been a number of blogs written about the day in the life of an estate planner or a law clerk working in estates. In today’s blog, I’ve invited my assistant, Sarah Whelan, to share insights into her role and highlight the key aspects of….
This blog post was written by Dave Madan, Senior Manager, Scotiatrust Amazon Prime Day is here—and it’s a siren song of “unmissable deals” on everything from smartphones and tablets to noise‑cancelling headphones and smart doorbells. But as professionals know, a shiny new gadget can bring hidden headaches: data breaches, estate‑planning gaps, and tangled family dynamics. Here’s how to help clients surf the Prime Day wave—without wiping out later. Turn “Ooh,….
Prime Day Smart Moves: Helping Clients Navigate the July 8–11 Tech Splurge Continue Reading »
Estate Planning, In the News, Practice ManagementThis blog has been written by Darren Lund, Partner at Fasken LLP In a previous blog, I wrote about the Ontario Superior Court of Justice decision in Lang-Newlands v Newlands, 2024 ONSC 6285. To briefly summarize, the Newlands case considered a number of issues, but the key issue of interest for estate planners is the court’s analysis of an “estate freeze” transaction that occurred during the parties’ marriage. Barbara and….
Newlands Revisited: Moving to the Appeal Continue Reading »
Estate Planning, Family Conflict, Separation, Succession Planning, Trusts, Uncategorized
This blog post was written by: Patricia Chartrand, Estate and Trust Consultant, Scotiatrust Vancouver Scandinavian death cleaning is the act of purging the superfluous and keeping the necessary in anticipation of your passing. The result is leaving the smallest physical footprint upon passing. It takes much less effort for your executors to distribute your life’s detritus as it was intentionally comprised only of things that had utility, a well-curated collection…..
What Stuff? Continue Reading »
Estate Administration, Estate Planning