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Estate Planning

Toronto Estate Law Blog

Provided by Hull & Hull.

Post Frequency: 10.9/day

Last Entry: April 01, 2011 at 08:48:24

In Terrorem Clauses in Wills

Posted on July 28, 2010
While some may find the contents of certain Wills frightening, there is one type of clause that has the name to go with the concept: the in terrorem clause. In terrorem is Latin for in terror, fright, threat or warning. An in terrorem clause is drafted to discourage frivolous Will challenge litigation by beneficiaries...

Examining Litigation in Ontario - Part 2 - Hull on Estate and Succession Planning #207

Posted on July 28, 2010
Listen to: Examining Litigation in Ontario – Part 2 This week on Hull on Estates and Succession Planning, Ian and Suzana focus on Will challenges. More specifically, what a lawsuit or litigation would be like if those involved resided outside of Ontario...

Generations in the Legal Workplace

Posted on July 27, 2010
When working with your legal colleagues, it is worth keeping in mind that we all have traits and characteristics that are a function of how and when we were socialized into the profession. In "The Multigenerational Workforce, Managing and Motivating Multiple Generations in the Legal Workplace", Sally Kane posits the following about the various generations: 1...

Orders Giving Directions in the Context of a Will Challenge - Hull on Estates Episode #215

Posted on July 27, 2010
Listen to: Orders Giving Directions in the Context of a Will Challenge This week on Hull on Estates, Craig Vander Zee and Nadia Harasymowycz discuss orders giving directions in the context of a will challenge. A will challenge offers an opportunity at the beginning of a case to assemble the evidence and consider how it will be dealt with going forward...

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Legal Research and the Fine Art of Being a Lawyer

Posted on July 26, 2010
In the hallowed halls of law school, contrary to what some 'lay' people might expect, students are not taught 'what' to think but rather 'how' to think. The law is a living thing and so for lawyers to truly add value they must be able to find and apply the law to their client's particular circumstances and legal problem...

A Mindset for Financial Success

Posted on July 23, 2010
Business self-help books are legion. And books chronicling the characteristics of the very wealthy (and how to be like them) comprise a good chunk of this category in your local bookstore. While our society's obsession with fame and perhaps just simple curiosity accounts for much of these sales, such publications contain useful advice which can inform anyone in business...

Statutory Wills in England and Wales

Posted on July 22, 2010
The Courts in England and Wales are gradually adapting to relatively new substitute decisions legislation (somewhat analogous to, but in many ways different from Ontario's Substitute Decisions Act). In particular, the concept of "statutory wills" provides for a mechanism (in certain circumstances) where testamentary dispositions may be directed by a special court for incapable persons...

The Spinster, the Rocket Scientist and Two Forged Codicils

Posted on July 21, 2010
Alleging a forgery is one thing. Proving it is another. But it may be the surrounding circumstances, rather than handwriting analysis, that ultimately satisfy the trier of fact that a fraud was committed. Consider a recent case reported in the British media...

The Estate of Franz Kafka: A Further Update

Posted on July 20, 2010
In blogs published on our site in March 2008 and January 2010, the fascinating story of the estate of Franz Kafka was considered. As we have discussed in other blogs (see this blog on Nabakov), an executor of the estate of a literary giant may face temptation to publish unfinished works even in the face of an expressed intention of the testator to the contrary...

Hull on Estates and Succession Planning #206 - Examining Litigation in Ontario

Posted on July 20, 2010
Listen to: Examining Legislation in Ontario This week on Hull on Estates and Succession Planning, Ian and Suzana talk about what a lawsuit or litigation would be like if those involved resided outside of Ontario. Issues discussed include knowing what to expect, what the system is about and how it works...

My Pirate Princess

Posted on July 19, 2010
My daughter turned 6 years old on Thursday, and on Friday, a pediatric ophthalmologist informed us that she is legally blind in one eye, and likely has been since birth. She can see light and motion with that eye, but little else. Parental shock would be an understatement...

Life's 2 Certainties for George Steinbrenner: Death and Championships

Posted on July 15, 2010
George Steinbrenner, owner of the New York Yankees, passed away yesterday. During his 37-year ownership, the flagship franchise won 7 World Series Titles. Steinbrenner bought the Yankees with a group of investors for $10 million from CBS in 1973...

Probate and Proving a Will

Posted on July 15, 2010
The term "probate" recurs throughout estates practice as a noun, verb and adjective. The most common context refers to the process of getting a court to provide some sort of official certification or recognition that a testatmentary instrument is the Last Will of a deceased...

When is one a "personal representative"?

Posted on July 14, 2010
Estates law often has distinct legal meanings for common terms. Take the term "personal representative". The term is defined in estates statutes, but also appears with and without definition in business corporations statutes and other statutes...

Intensive Wills and Estates Workshop Hull on Estates #213

Posted on July 13, 2010
Listen to: Intensive Wills and Estates Workshop This week on Hull on Estates, Natalia Angelini and Rick Bickhram discuss the Intensive Wills and Estates Workshop that recently took place at Osgoode Hall Law School. The three day workshop covered an array of will and estates matters, including questions that will be asked during an initial meeting to gather necessary information to start preparing a will...

Appeals and the Estates Act

Posted on July 13, 2010
Section 10(1) of the Estates Act provides that appeals in proceedings under the Act are to be made to the Divisional Court. This is a procedural holdover from the old days before the Surrogate Court was merged with the Superior Court of Justice (or more perhaps more accurately, acquired by)...

World Cup Over: Spanish, Employers Rejoice

Posted on July 12, 2010
While returning to the office after a meeting Wednesday afternoon, I couldn't help but notice how many people were watching the Spanish defeat the Germans on the giant movie projectors set up in Toronto's underground labyrinth (for non-Torontonians: the major downtown subway stops, shopping centers and towers are connected by an underground network of tunnels and food courts)...

Feeling The Heat Over Cold Temperatures

Posted on July 09, 2010
I don't know about you, but I would be enjoying this heat wave a lot more if I wasn't smack dab in the centre of the smog advisory zone. Although, I can't really complain as I wasn't one of the unlucky people stuck in elevator shafts during the power outage earlier this week without air conditioning...

A Tougher Line on Costs Growing in Canada?

Posted on July 08, 2010
Estate litigators in Ontario know full well that the historical rule that costs are usually paid from the estate assets is no longer the case. They are seeing a trend in the case law that if the Court is of the impression that one of the parties to the dispute has behaved improperly at any stage of the litigation, including advancing a position not supported by the evidence, significant cost awards against that person could be made...

LOVING YOUR ANIMALS TO DEATH?

Posted on July 07, 2010
My blog posts this week have been inspired by a Globe and Mail article that a summer student handed to me about the late Gail Posner's trust provisions for her dogs, Conchita, April Maria and Lucia. In yesturday's blog I noted that while Wills are an opportunity for individuals to provide for their loved ones, there is no guarantee that our stated wishes for our beloved companion animals will be sacrosanct...

DEVOTION TO DOGS A SIGN OF INCAPACITY?

Posted on July 06, 2010
Pets are becoming increasingly important to Canadians. According to a 2001 IPSOS-REID "Paws and Claws" pet ownership study, more than half of all Canadian households owned a cat or a dog in 2001, with one third of households owning cats and one-third owning dogs...

Observations Pertaining to Estates and Trusts Law - Hull on Estates #212

Posted on July 06, 2010
Listen to: Observations Pertaining to Estates and Trusts Law This week David Smith and Nadia Harasymowycz discuss Observations Pertaining to Estates and Trusts Law. If you have any comments, send us an email at hull.lawyers@gmail.com or leave a comment on our blog...

ANOTHER ESTATE GOES TO THE DOGS

Posted on July 05, 2010
There has been a great deal of discussion about the late Leona Helmsley who, when she died, left 12 million dollars in Trust for her beloved Maltese Trouble, while leaving nothing to 2 of her grandchildren for 'reasons that are known to them.' Well it's happened again…another estate is going to the dogs! Our summer student forwarded me a Globe and Mail article discussing the provisions that the late heiress Gail Posner made for the benefit of her fabulously famous Chihuahua Conchita and her 2 other dogs, April Maria and Lucia...

Michael Jackson's Estate Generates Approximately $1 Billion Since His Death

Posted on June 30, 2010
For those who take an interest in music or pop culture, it would have been difficult, if not impossible, not to be aware of Michael Jackson's demise on June 25, 2009. At the time of his death, there were reports that his estate was indebted and/or had pending liabilities in the hundreds of millions of dollars...

OBA Trusts and Estates Section Executive

Posted on June 29, 2010
In yesterday's blog, I mentioned that the election of the Ontario Bar Association (OBA), Trusts and Estates Section Executive for the year 2010-2011 was confirmed at the Section's year end dinner on June 1, 2010. I am very pleased to be the incoming Chair of the Executive...

OBA Trusts and Estates Section Year End Dinner

Posted on June 28, 2010
The Ontario Bar Association (OBA), Trusts and Estates Section, year end dinner was held on June 1, 2010 at Archeo (Distillery District) in Toronto. Suzana Popovic-Montag, the Chair of the Section for the past year, brought the past year to a close and the election of the OBA, Trusts and Estates Section Executive for the 2010/2011 year, was confirmed...

How has the G20 impacted your professional and non-professional life?

Posted on June 25, 2010
It's Friday, June 25, 2010 and as a result of the G20 summit, I am blogging remotely - from the comfort of my own home. As you know, the leaders from the G20 countries are meeting in Toronto this year to discuss key issues in the global economy. The road leading to the summit has been a rocky one...

I'm jumping on the blogging bandwagon!

Posted on June 24, 2010
This is the first time I have ever contributed to a blog, legal or otherwise, so you can imagine my delight when I noticed an article in the June 11, 2010 issue of Lawyers Weekly entitled "Legal blogs that work'. The article, written by Geoff Kirbyson, discusses the benefits of legal blogging and includes helpful hints on running effective law-blogs...

Ready for Bill 168?

Posted on June 23, 2010
If you are working in Ontario by now you should be aware of Bill 168, the new workplace violence and harassment legislation, which came into force last week. An interesting article in the June 14, 2010 edition of the Law Times notes that Premier McGuinty's government introduced the legislation in part in response to the murder of nurse Lori Dupont in 2005 in her workplace by her former boyfriend, an anesthesiologist at the hospital...

Effect of Delay on Certificates of Pending Litigation

Posted on June 22, 2010
In our litigation practice, it is not uncommon to obtain orders permitting clients to register a Certificate of Pending Litigation (CPL) against title to property that is, for instance, an estate asset that one party is seeking to preserve until the litigation is concluded...

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