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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

Commencing an Application under the Substitute Decisions Act

Posted on November 06, 2008
A recent decision by Brown, J. heralded good news for the Estates Bar. The applicant wished to issue a guardianship application under sections 22 and 55 of the SDA in the Toronto Region Estates Office. The guardianship application was in respect of her son who was injured in a car accident in 1997...

Proof of a Lost or Destroyed Will - Not so Fast

Posted on November 05, 2008
On Monday, I blogged on proving a lost or destroyed will in court: If an original will which was last traced into the possession of the testator cannot be located following the death of the testator, a rebuttable presumption arises that the testator destroyed the will with the intention of revoking it...

Duties of an Estate Trustee - Hull on Estates #135

Posted on November 04, 2008
Listen to Duties of an Estate Trustee This week on Hull on Estates, David Smith and Natalia Angelini talk about the duties an estate trustee he or she is charged with from the moment of a testator's passing. Duties include locating the will, making funeral arrangements and being responsible to see the intentions of the testator preserved...

Charles Dubin - The passing of a Legal Legend

Posted on November 04, 2008
It was with considerable sadness that the legal community marked the passing of Charles Dubin last week. In its obituary, The Toronto Star called him "a legal giant" and a "national icon" and it was not alone. Charles Dubin was widely acknowledged as possessing a keen legal mind...

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Dealing with Estate Issues That Arise Immediately Upon Death - Hull on Estates #135

Posted on November 04, 2008
Listen to Dealing with Estate Issues That Arise Immediately Upon Death This week on Hull on Estates, David Smith and Natalia Angelini talk about the duties an estate trustee he or she is charged with from the moment of a testator's passing...

Proof of a Lost or Destroyed Will

Posted on November 03, 2008
Welcome to my week of blogs. The perennial problem of a lost or destroyed will is not new. Much law has been written and effort spent on the subject. I am also counsel in a lost will proceeding that is a real bugaboo. I therefore thought that it would be worthwhile to cover off the basics...

Sweet Success: Shares, Trusts & Families

Posted on October 31, 2008
It’s Hallow’s Eve – there will be candy all round tonight. Well, all weekend if we’re lucky. And, fittingly, just in time for the sweet sound of “trick or treat” Mars, Inc. completed its purchase of the Wm. Wrigley Jr...

A New Life to Legacies?

Posted on October 30, 2008
The business pages, especially in this uncertain economy, can be interesting. Recently I gravitate toward Paul Waldie's column in the Globe & Mail. Frequently, he identifies the gifts, causes and reasons provided by individuals whose donations range from under $100,000 to a million dollars or more...

Snowbirds and a Power of Attorney

Posted on October 29, 2008
The cooler weather is cause for many people, retirees especially, to plan an annual sojourn south. In preparing for the winter, protecting real property -- often a significant asset -- may be top of mind. My colleague, Paul Trudelle, wrote about "Real Estate Transactions Involving Powers of Attorney" in July 2008...

Heirs: Lost and Found

Posted on October 28, 2008
As a WWII pay officer in the Canadian military, my paternal grandfather met a British woman on the beach when he was stationed in the south of England. They married soon after the War and retired in England in the mid-1960s. My grandfather died in the early 1990s; when my step-grandmother, Tessa, died in 2008, in her Will she left her house to my father and aunt...

The Law as it Affects Older Adults - Hull on Estates #134

Posted on October 28, 2008
Listen to The Law as it Affects Older Adults This week on Hull on Estates, Ian Hull and Suzana Popovic-Montag discuss a recent consultation paper from the Law Commission of Ontario(LCO) titled: The Law as it Affects Older Adults. The LCO has initiated a project to develop a legal framework for the law as it affects older persons and will be essential in addressing the needs and experiences of this group...

Will Challenge Litigation - Part 11 - Hull on Estate and Succession Planning #136

Posted on October 28, 2008
Listen to Will Challenge Litigation - Part 11 This week on Hull on Estate and Succession Planning, Ian and Suzana talk about the differences between quantum meruit and propriety estoppel. As with any add-on claims, the courts require solid corroboration...

Searching for long lost heirs

Posted on October 27, 2008
In Scotland for my honeymoon, I encountered a few different “estates”. Hiking the West Highland Way – averaging about 12 miles a day – we passed Blackmount Lodge, in the Bridge of Orchy. The lodge, owned by the Fleming family (of James Bond fame) sits on the edge of an idyllic loch...

The Top Three Common Claims Against Lawyers

Posted on October 24, 2008
I recently read an article regarding the most common claims against lawyers, which is authored by Dan Pinnington who is the director of practicePro, LawPro’s risk and practice management program (click here for the article). I found it particularly interesting that only a small portion of LawPro claims account for a lawyer’s inability to know or apply the substantive law...

The Dreaded Application for Certificate of Appointment of an Estate Trustee

Posted on October 23, 2008
I have learned that only a small percentage of applications for certificate of appointment of an estate trustee, filed in Toronto, are approved without being sent back for correction. Some common problems associated with these types of applications are, incorrect or inconsistent references to the deceased's name, problems concerning the mailing of the application to beneficiaries who have an interest in the subject estate, incorrect calculations of estate administration tax and in cases involving holographic wills, a missing affidavit attesting to the handwriting of the deceased...

The Duty to Dispose of the Body

Posted on October 22, 2008
Upon the death of a person, a duty arises to bury or otherwise dispose of the remains in a decent and dignified fashion. But who does this duty fall upon? It is well established in the jurisprudence for Ontario that plans for the service and burial arrangements are the responsibility of the estate trustee...

Unduly Influenced Not to Make a Will?

Posted on October 21, 2008
I recently attended a breakfast seminar hosted by Hull & Hull LLP, where I listened to my colleague, Natalia Angelini, speak about a testator's capacity to give instructions for the preparation of a Will. During Natalia's discussion, she spoke about the varying levels of capacity for different transactions...

Will Challenge Litigation - Part 10 - Hull on Estate and Succession Planning #135

Posted on October 21, 2008
Listen to Will Challenge Litigation - Part 10 This week on Hull on Estates, Ian and Suzana discuss extraneous claims that can arise during a will challenge. In particular, they talk about propriety estoppel and other situations where someone worked to their detriment in the context of an estate dispute...

The Interrelationship Between a Guardian of Property and a Trustee Under a Testamentary Trust - Hull on Estates Podcast # 133

Posted on October 21, 2008
Listen to: The Interrelationship Between a Guardian of Property and a Trustee Under a Testamentary Trust This week on Hull on Estates, Rick Bickhram and David M. Smith discuss the complications that can arise when an incapable person is both the subject of a guardianship order and the beneficiary of a testamentary trust...

Has Heath Ledger's Estate Been Settled?

Posted on October 20, 2008
You may remember that my colleague, Chris Graham, blogged on the death of the actor, Heath Ledger and the pending litigation involving his estate (Link to Chris Graham's Blog). It has been well reported that Ledger last made a Will in 2003, before the birth of his daughter Matilda (in 2005) and before his claim to fame...

Variation of Trust - The Application

Posted on October 17, 2008
Today’s blog is the last in my series this week on the variation of a trust under the Variation of Trusts Act and touches upon the Application material to be brought in respect of the variation. The Application seeking approval of the variation is usually brought by one or more of the capacitated beneficiaries...

Variation of Trust - The Deed of Arrangement

Posted on October 16, 2008
Today’s blog is a continuation of my blogs this week on the variation of a trust under the Variation of Trusts Act and will focus on the Deed of Arrangement. The approach to, and content of, the Deed of Arrangement will most certainly depend on the circumstances involved...

Variation of Trusts - The Litigation Guardian

Posted on October 15, 2008
In yesterday’s blog on the procedure typically involved with a variation of a trust proceeding under the Variation of Trusts Act, I mentioned that today I would touch upon the need to appoint a litigation guardian for a minor, unascertained, unborn and/or for an incapable party in such a proceeding...

Variation of Trust - Procedure

Posted on October 14, 2008
I hope everyone had a nice Thanksgiving weekend. In a recent blog of mine (“To vary a Trust or not to vary a Trust: Does a Statute have the Answer?”), I touched upon the Variation of Trusts Act (R.S.O. 1990, c. V.1) as the authority to vary a trust...

Testamentary Capacity Issues - Hull on Estates #132

Posted on October 14, 2008
Listen to Testamentary Capacity Issues This week on Hull on Estates, Paul Trudelle and Natalia Angelini discuss testamentary capacity issues as they arise in estate matters. Wills require the highest level of capacity and testators need to demonstrate that they are of a sound and disposing mind...

Will Challenge Litigation - Part 9 - Hull on Estate and Succession Planning

Posted on October 14, 2008
Listen to Will Challenge Litigation - Part 9 This week on Hull on Estates, Ian and Suzana discuss other claims that can be made concurrent to a classic will challenge. In particular, they talk about quantum meruit claims and how these can be interpreted differently depending on the situation...

TIME TO GIVE THANKS

Posted on October 10, 2008
As it is the Friday before a long weekend, I thought a more light-hearted blog would be in order. What is the origin of Canadian Thanksgiving? Like so much in Canada, we borrowed the tradition from our American cousins in the mid 1800s. However, at the time, Protestant church leaders in Ontario wanted to set the right moralistic tone when it came giving thanks for the harvest...

SECTION 3 COUNSEL: A CATCH-22

Posted on October 09, 2008
Pursuant to Section 3 of the Substitute Decision Act, the court may direct the PGT to arrange for legal representation for a person whose capacity is in issue in a proceeding under the SDA. The SDA further states that the person so represented shall be deemed to have capacity to retain and instruct counsel...

Ordering a Second Capacity Assessment

Posted on October 08, 2008
Pursuant to section 79 of the Substitute Decisions Act, the court has discretion to order a capacity assessment of an individual if the person’s capacity is an issue in a proceeding under the SDA. The court must also be satisfied that there are reasonable grounds to believe that the person is incapable...

Will Challenge Litigation - Part 8 - Hull on Estate and Succession Planning

Posted on October 07, 2008
Listen to Will Challenge Litigation - Part 8 This week on Hull on Estates, Ian and Suzana discuss corporate issues and implications during a will challenge. Issues of testamentary capacity and undue influence can become extremely complex questions to investigate in a corporate inquiry...

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