Estate Administration

Total 493 Posts

What Happens if Something Happens to your Executor?

Choosing who to name as the executor of your estate is an important decision to make when preparing your will (and a topic on which other All About Estates blogs have been written). But what happens if something happens to your executor, and they are unable or unwilling to act? Who will administer your estate? This blog will explore the scenario of an executor dying before the testator (the writer….

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Estate Administration, Estate Planning, Executors, Wills

Trust and estates beware of the new Underused Housing Tax

The recently enacted Underused Housing Tax Act[i] (UHTA) applies a one per cent tax on the ownership of vacant or underused housing in Canada. Per the Canada Revenue Agency’s (CRA) published notification[ii] on Jan 17, 2023, “the vast majority of Canadian owners of residential property are excluded owners and, therefore, do not have any obligations and liabilities under the UHTA. However, the underused housing tax is payable by certain Canadian….

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Canada Revenue Agency, Estate Administration, Estate Planning, Tax Issues, Trustee

Valuation of Interests in Discretionary trusts and Family Law

These days, it is quite common to find intergenerational wealth transfer to consist of property held in a discretionary family trust whose beneficiaries may or may not have been in marital relationships at the time of the time the trusts were created. A siginifcant number of legal and financials issues related to these trusts in family law, including the determination of what is considered “included” and “excluded” family property before….

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Business Succession Planning, Contracts, Courts, Estate Administration, Estate Administration and Probate Applications, Estate Planning, Family Conflict, Investments, Property, Real Estate, Resulting Trust, Separation, Small Business, Spouse, Trusts, valuation

Digital Assets: How Advisors are Changing the World

While I enjoy writing about the legal aspects of digital assets in estate planning and administration, I don’t think that I have spent enough time focusing on the work of the wonderful advisors in this space: technology consultants, lawyers and policy analysts among them. The efforts of these advisors have helped shape the law, internationally, in an area where legal guidance has desperately been needed. As time goes on, I….

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Estate Administration, Estate Planning, International

The Secret Language of Estates, and Inflation

Estates clerks and lawyers “speak” their own language.  We use acronyms or initialisms[1] such as CAET, EIR, RCP, ARI, AET, GRE, POA and COLA.  We use abbreviations like Benys and T’ees, and we draw triangles.  The idea for this blog was born when reflecting on having to interpret a lawyer’s handwritten notes for an assistant last week and on answering a “silly” question for a corporate colleague earlier this week. ….

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Estate Administration, Estate Planning, Uncategorized

Beneficial ownership reporting for trusts – the uncertainty is almost here!

The beneficial ownership reporting for trusts (BORT) rules, originally announced in the 2018 Federal Budget on February 27, 2018, has made its way into the House of Commons. The original draft legislation released by Department of Finance on July 27, 2018 was updated on February 4th and on August 9th of 2022. This final update of the BORT draft legislation is now included in the 172 pages of Bill C-32[1]….

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Canada Revenue Agency, Estate Administration, Tax Issues, Trusts
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