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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

DNA matters

Posted on June 03, 2009
The BBC recently reported on a case in which an actress appealed from a decision of the High Court, seeking CDN$1.6 million from the estate of a 92-year old deceased woman who had left her a mere CDN$5,000 in her estate. The claimant alleged that the deceased had been in a lengthy lesbian relationship with the claimant's mother and treated the claimant as her own daughter...

Not Such a Beautiful Day in the Neighbourhood

Posted on June 03, 2009
Our first house together was a rental duplex in High Park. We knew something was awry when we collected the mail from the common mailbox one afternoon and saw that first letter. It was from the Attorney General's office and was addressed to the neighbour who lived upstairs...

Being Specific About Costs - Hull on Estate and Succession Planning #167

Posted on June 03, 2009
Listen to Being Specific About Costs This week on Hull on Estate and Succession Planning, Ian and Suzana get into specifics regarding costs. They discuss specific illustrations where motions can arise; both strategic motions and those that can be predicted and look into why costs may be so high...

Is the Door Forever Closed on Substituted Testamentary Disposition?

Posted on June 02, 2009
On April 7, 2009, I blogged on the decision of Justice Strathy in Richardson (Estate Trustee of) v. Mew. In that decision, His Honour considered the situation where a deceased's first spouse was unexpectedly the named beneficiary of a life insurance policy owned by the deceased, the second spouse seeking to remedy what she argued to be an unjust situation...

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Diagnosis of Alzheimer's Disease: A Leap Forward

Posted on May 31, 2009
At present, there is no single diagnostic test for Alzheimer's disease. Instead, the diagnosis is reached when the medical practitioner (e.g. psychiatrist, general practitioner, geriatrician, or neurologist) has eliminated all other possible causes of the symptoms being experienced; an overview of these symptoms is provided in a previous Hull & Hull LLP blog of February 17, 2009...

Death, Taxes and Taxes on Death

Posted on May 28, 2009
Ontario's new harmonized sales tax is coming into effect on July 1, 2010. One of its effects will be to impose PST on funeral services: services that have previously been exempted from PST. According to the harmonized sales tax, funeral services will now be taxed at the rate of 13%, up from 5%...

James Brown: The Final Act?

Posted on May 28, 2009
James Brown's estate issues have appeared on our blog on a number of occasions: see here, here, here and here. It appears that the matter may now be at an end. On Tuesday, a South Carolina judge approved a settlement that gives nearly half of his estate to a charitable trust, a quarter to his wife and young son, and a quarter to his six adult children, according to an Associated Press report on the Macleans...

Terminating or Varying a Trust - Hull on Estates Episode #164

Posted on May 27, 2009
Listen to Terminating or Varying a Trust This week on Hull on Estates, Jonathan Morse and Natalia Angelini discuss trusts; specifically they discuss terminating or varying a trust. They look at an article by Debra Stevens and give their thoughts. If you have any comments, send us an email at hull...

What's the Password?

Posted on May 27, 2009
Probably '123456'. No? Try 'password', or some variation of it. Our heads are becoming jammed with passwords. Almost every website service we visit requires a password. A few diverse posts that I have come across have looked at password usage...

Uncertainties in Litigation - Hull on Estate and Succession Planning #166

Posted on May 27, 2009
Listen to Uncertainties in Litigation This week on Hull on Estate and Succession Planning, Ian and Suzana discuss the uncertainties in litigation. They look at the great uncertainty of interlocutory (or injunctions, or motions) throughout the process...

An Attorney's Duty to Account

Posted on May 25, 2009
An attorney acting under a power of attorney may be required to account to the beneficiaries of the grantor's estate after the death of the grantor. This is the holding in the decision of McAllister Estate v. Hudgin. Megan Connolly blogged on this case here, on the issue of accounting, and here, on the issue of removal of an estate trustee...

An Attorney's Duty to Account

Venue for Passing of Accounts Applications

Posted on May 25, 2009
In the February 2009 edition of The Probator, I reported on the decision of Brown J. in Re McMichael Estate. There, Brown J. clarified the requirement that an application for a Certificate of Appointment be filed in the court office for the county or district in which the testator was living at the time of death...

The Executor as "Spokesman of the Soul"; Revisiting the Will of Alfred Nobel

Posted on May 22, 2009
"I regard large inherited wealth as a misfortune, which merely serves to dull men's faculties. A man who possesses great wealth should, therefore, allow only a small portion to descend to his relatives. Even if he has children, I consider it a mistake to hand over to them considerable sums of money beyond what is necessary for their education...

Rule 39 and Solicitors as Witnesses

Posted on May 21, 2009
Yesterday, my blog touched on the use of Rule 39.03 to examine non-party witnesses before the hearing of a pending motion or application. As noted, Rule 39.03 can be used to summons solicitors to give relevant evidence about a deceased former client in estate litigation proceedings...

Interplay between Estate Litigation and General Civil Litigation: The Use of Rule 39

Posted on May 20, 2009
Estate litigation differs in many ways from general civil litigation, as noted in previous blogs on our website. Differences notwithstanding, estate litigators should still make it a habit to consider all of the Rules of Civil Procedure when planning out their litigation strategy...

The Question of Costs - Part 2 - Hull on Estate and Succession Planning #165

Posted on May 20, 2009
Listen to The Question of Costs - Part 2 This week on Hull on Estate and Succession Planning, Ian and Suzana continue their discussion on the question of costs. Specifically, they discuss the estimated costs when engaging a lawyer. If you have any comments, send us an email at hullandhull@gmail...

Useful Clauses in a Will - Hull on Estates Episode #163

Posted on May 20, 2009
Listen to Useful Clauses in a Will This week on Hull on Estates, Paul Trudelle and Sarah Hyndman Fitzpatrick discuss various clauses in a will that may be useful in certain circumstances, such as carrying on a business, exclusion of illegitimates, or RESP's...

Access to Justice for the Elderly

Posted on May 19, 2009
The growth in Canada's aging population has led to increased awareness of the special needs of seniors and the impact of the law on them. Our blogs have often dealt with issues that particularly affect the elderly, such as power of attorney abuse...

D-I-Y Funerals

Posted on May 15, 2009
I recently came across an article which suggests that Do-It-Yourself (D-I-Y) funerals are an emerging trend in the United States. The article charts the growth of the home funeral movement in the last two decades. A D-I-Y home funeral can mean many things...

Twittering Lawyers

Posted on May 13, 2009
By now, almost everyone has heard about Twitter. Twitter is the micro-blogging social network that allows you to publish and read short messages of less than 140 characters ('tweets'). Twitter has over 10 million users and with all the recent media attention it seems like everyone is on twitter; celebrities, news agencies, municipalities, and corporations...

Powers of Attorney and Real Estate Fraud

Posted on May 13, 2009
To assist real estate lawyers in identifying forged powers of attorney and fraudulent real estate transactions, the Law Society of Upper Canada has provided real estate lawyers with a set of new guidelines and procedures for powers of attorney and real estate transactions...

Succession Planning for Lawyers

Posted on May 12, 2009
A recent article in the Ontario Lawyers Gazette discusses succession planning for lawyers with respect to their practice. Lawyers often fail to plan for their retirement or death and often do not set up a formal succession plan for their practice to the determent of their families, clients, and colleagues...

The Distinction Between Bringing Motions and Commencing Proceedings - Hull on Estates #162

Posted on May 12, 2009
Listen to The Distinction Between Bringing Motions and Commencing Proceedings This week on Hull on Estates Rick Bickhram and Chris Graham discuss some important distinctions between bringing motions and commencing proceedings in the estates context as opposed to general civil litigation...

The Question of Costs - Hull on Estate and Succession Planning #164

Posted on May 12, 2009
Listen to The Question of Costs This week on Hull on Estate and Succession Planning, Ian and Suzana discuss the question of costs. They talk about where people get paid out of in typical estate contested matter and begin to discuss what the costs are and what it really costs a client to engage a lawyer...

U.K. Man Loses Bid for Open Field Funeral Pyre

Posted on May 11, 2009
A recent case from Britain focuses the spotlight on the traditional Hindu cremation practice. A 70 year old Hindu spiritual leader, Davender Ghai, sought the legal right to an open air funeral pyre. In 2006, Newcastle City Council has refused Mr...

Fanconi Canada - Funding Research to Find a Cure

Posted on May 08, 2009
Over the weekend, lawyers from Hull & Hull attended a banquet and silent auction in support of Fanconi Canada, an organization committed to raising money for Fanconi Anemia. For those of you unfamiliar with the disease, Fanconi Anemia is a rare inherited blood disorder that can lead to bone marrow failure (it causes your bone marrow to stop producing the blood cells necessary for your body to function normally)...

In Burial News, Cemetery Goes "Green"

Posted on May 07, 2009
For all those who are eco-obsessed, the New York Times reports that a cemetery in Lawrence, Kansas is offering an environmentally-friendly way to be buried (when your time finally comes; and see previous blogs that also touch on this issue using our search bar))...

Planning for Your Pet's Future Without You...

Posted on May 06, 2009
In Maryland, legislation was recently enacted that allows pet owners to establish trusts for their pets, making it the 40th state to allow pet trusts. Previously, people could not leave gifts to pets because, at law, pets were chattels and could not inherit property...

Judgment Creditors - What Assets Can They Claim?

Posted on May 05, 2009
Ker Estate v. Stevenson, a recent decision from the Ontario Court of Appeal, considered whether an annuity left to a beneficiary under a will could be encroached upon by a judgment creditor. In this case, the deceased directed that half the residue of her estate be used to purchase a non-commutable life annuity for her daughter...

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