NEWLANDS: A NEW INTERPRETATION OF ESTATE FREEZES IN THE FAMILY COURTS?

This blog has been written by Darren Lund, Partner at Fasken LLP In Lang-Newlands v. Newlands, 2024 ONSC 6285, the Ontario Superior Court of Justice revisited the treatment of a discretionary family trust in the context of the equalization of net family property under the Ontario Family Law Act. Barbara Lang-Newlands (“Barb”) and Ian Newlands (“Ian”) were married on August 21, 1987 and separated on July 31, 2019. There were….

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Estate Planning, Family Conflict, Separation, Succession Planning, Trusts

Love is in the Air – Or is it Separation?

Couple forced to marriage by judge

This blog post was written by: Diana Leopardi, Estate and Trust Consultant, Scotiatrust Montreal Love is in the air…You may now kiss the bride; these are a couple of popular phrases often used in romantic movies but what about The Hangover movie what if your client woke up one morning only to discover that they were married and duties and responsibilities of married couples were bestowed upon them…what to do?….

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Family Conflict, Separation, Spouse

To Be or Not to Be a Spouse: A Follow-Up on Enns V The King

Maddi Thomas, associate, and Donya Ashnaei, articling student, Gowling WLG (Canada) LLP Background I wrote a blog post on Enns v the King, 2023 TCC 28, last year. This case was significant for estate planners, as the ruling extended the Canada Revenue Agency’s (“CRA”) reach under section 160 of the Income Tax Act (the “Act”). A little over a week ago, the Federal Court of Appeal (“FCA”) overturned the TCC’s….

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Appeals, Spouse, Succession Planning, Tax Issues

When Inheritance Divides: The Strain of Sibling Disputes Over Estate Debts

This blog post was written by Mohena Singh, Associate at Fasken LLP. An important question a person has to answer when planning their estate is, “who will be the estate trustee?” Sometimes this decision is taken lightly or a person may gravitate towards an obvious answer – “my spouse” or “my children”. What may seem like an easy decision can become costly and delay the administration of the estate if….

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Estate Administration, Family Conflict, Trustee, Trustee Disputes

Key Considerations When Drafting a Will with International Assets

If you have clients with assets outside Canada, they likely look to you for guidance to support drafting of testamentary documents. In a previous article we explored the considerations that should be kept in mind when assets are owned outside of Quebec, within Canada – given the civil law and common law differences. However, even if the testator has assets in multiple common law or civil law jurisdictions, estate and….

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Estate Planning, Executors, International, Property, Real Estate

In Care of Yvette Poirier v. Estate of Paul Poirier, 2025 ONSC 0482, the Court considered an application to set aside the conveyance of a home from a mother to her son , on the basis that the mother lacked capacity and was subject to undue influence. In an unusual set of facts, the daughter who sought to set aside the conveyance had originally agreed to the transfer in question….

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