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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

When Living Wills Attack

Posted on May 07, 2008
Who can forget the sad case of Terry Schiavo, the poor lady who suffered catastrophic brain damage in 1990 and was kept alive in a vegetative state on a feeding tube for 15 years? Readers will remember the anguish involved when her husband was forced to litigate against her parents in order to get the tube removed so Terry could die in peace...

Remember the Evidence Act!

Posted on May 06, 2008
How does one prove a negative? This is a challenge facing many estates: after a person dies, individuals spring forth requesting compensation for services rendered on a quantum meruit basis or alleging that promises were made by the deceased...

Appointing a Guardian - Hull on Estate and Succession Planning Podcast #111

Posted on May 06, 2008
Listen to Appointing a Guardian This week on Hull on Estate and Succession Planning, Ian and Suzana talk about appointing a guardian for your children. They also discuss Ian's appearance on BNN's Strictly Legal with Michael Cochrane. If this link does not work in your browser, please copy and paste the following into the address bar: http://broadband...

Passing of Accounts - Hull on Estates Podcast #109

Posted on May 06, 2008
Listen to Passing of Accounts This week on Hull on Estates, Diane Vieira and Craig Vander Zee talk about how to avoid conflict during the passing of accounts. Comments? Send us an email at hull.lawyers@gmail.com, call us on the comment line at 206-350-6636 or visit our blog at http://estatelaw...

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Bill "Evolves" Between Congressional Vote and President's Signature

Posted on May 04, 2008
What happens the Bill a legislature votes for is different than the Bill the Head of State signs?A fascinating story is playing out down south: the U.S. Congress voted for a highway funding bill, which the President later signed into law. But someone altered an "earmark" provision after Congress voted, so the bill the President signed was slightly different than the bill Congress voted on...

The Law and Polygamy in Canada

Posted on May 02, 2008
The intense media coverage of the raid on the polygamist ranch in Texas has also generated scrutiny of Canada’s polygamous communities. Polygamy is against the law in Canada but there has not been a prosecution of a case in over sixty years...

Millionaire's Estate worth Nil

Posted on May 01, 2008
Dame Anita Roddick, the founder of the Body Shop, gave away her entire wealth, approximately 102 million dollars, to various charities while alive. She only left enough money in her estate to pay the inheritance tax on those charitable gifts. Once the inheritance tax is paid, the value of her estate will be nil...

A Look at the Moral and Legal Obligations to Dependants

Posted on April 30, 2008
An Alberta case, Re Boychuk, looks at the legal and moral obligations to provide support to a dependant of the estate.The testator executed his Will in 2003 when he was 89 years old leaving his entire estate, just over $62,000.00, to two of his five children and leaving nothing to his wife of 71 years who resided in a nursing home...

Millionaire's Estate worth Nil

Posted on April 30, 2008
Dame Anita Roddick, the founder of the Body Shop, gave away her entire wealth, approximately 102 million dollars, to various charities while alive. She only left enough money in her estate to pay the inheritance tax on those charitable gifts. Once the inheritance tax is paid, the value of her estate will be nil...

Dependency and Undue Influence - Hull on Estates #108

Posted on April 29, 2008
Listen to Dependency and Undue Influence This week on Hull on Estates, Diane Vieira and Paul Trudelle discuss dependency and undue influence in the case of Bale vs. Bale. This topic is also discussed by Paul Trudelle in his blog post: If the link does not work, cut and paste the following URL into your browser: http://estatelaw...

Issues in Estate Administration: Tax Filing - Hull on Estate and Succession Planning Podcast #110

Posted on April 29, 2008
Listen to Issues in Estate Administration: Tax Filing. This week on Hull on Estate and Succession Planning, Ian and Suzana discuss tax issues surrounding the administration of an estate. Comments? Send us an email at hullandhull@gmail.com, call us on the comment line at 206-457-1985, or leave us a comment on the Hull on Estates and Succession Planning blog.

Arthur Miller's Last Words

Posted on April 29, 2008
A Vanity Fair article published late last year writes on the relationship between playwright, Arthur Miller and his son, Daniel Miller who was born with Down Syndrome. Daniel was born in 1966 and institutionalized one week after being born and apparently while other family members kept in touch with Daniel, Miller rarely visited him or spoke of him...

Practice Management Blogs: A Source for New Ideas

Posted on April 28, 2008
I recently came across two entertaining and informative blogs about practice management for lawyers and law firms. David Bilinsky is a practice management advisor and staff lawyer with the Law Society of British Columbia. He writes and lectures on the subject of legal practice management and his blog, www...

Leaving an Ethical Will

Posted on April 25, 2008
Following up on Allan Socken’s blog of March 31, 2008 entitled “What is Legacy Coaching”, I came across an article in the American College of Trust and Estate Counsel Journal entitled “Is Your (Ethical) Will in Order?” (2008) 33 ACTEC Journal 154 by Zoe Hicks...

Dinner with the Estates List Justices

Posted on April 24, 2008
On April 23, 2008, I attended at the Ontario Bar Association’s Dinner with the Estates Lists Justices.The evening began with a review of the Case of the Month by Barry Corbin. Barry discussed the Court of Appeal decision of Madore-Ogilvie v...

Dependency and Undue Influence

Posted on April 23, 2008
Mom dies, leaving a will that divides her estate among her three sons. The only trouble is that before she died, Mom gave the farm to one of her sons. Accordingly, the other two sons receive nothing upon Mom’s death. This fact situation was recently considered by Jenkins J...

Principles and Costs

Posted on April 22, 2008
In determining whether to litigate, or how far to go with a claim, a paramount consideration must be the costs involved, and the prospect of their recovery or payment.Recently, I came across a case that highlights the issue. There, a wrongful dismissal matter, the court awarded the employee 2 ½ months’ notice, or $9,166...

Payment of Legacies - Hull on Estate and Succession Planning Podcast #109

Posted on April 22, 2008
Listen to Payment of Legacies This week on Hull on Estate and Succession Planning, Ian and Suzana discuss payment of legacies and other gifts that may be set out in a will. Comments? Send us an email at hullandhull@gmail.com or leave us a message on our comment line at 206-457-1985.

Alter Ego Trusts - Hull on Estates #107

Posted on April 22, 2008
Listen to Alter Ego Trusts. This week on Hull on Estates, Natalia and Chris discuss what Alter Ego Trusts are and the pros and cons of using Alter Ego Trusts. Comments? Send us an email at hull.lawyers@gmail.com, call us on the comment line at 206-350-6636, or leave us a comment on the Hull on Estates blog...

Taxation of Executor Compensation

Posted on April 21, 2008
It’s just about tax time, so I thought I would briefly discuss the taxation of executor compensation.The basic premise is that executor compensation is taxable in the hands of the recipient. It is either income from an office or employment (if the executor is not in the business of being an executor) or income from a business (if the executor is in the business of being an executor, or if such a function is in the executor’s usual course of business)...

All Oceans (Used to) Lead to London - Some still do

Posted on April 18, 2008
Once in a blue moon I find myself considering and marveling at the genius and breadth of the Common Law. I am amazed by the Common Law’s ability to function effectively in what otherwise appear to be remarkably different parts of the world, particularly in the area of Estates and Trusts...

Power of Attorney Abuse on the Rise

Posted on April 17, 2008
By all indications, the abuse of Powers of Attorney to misappropriate assets is on the rise. When a grantor gives powers to an attorney to manage the grantor’s property, it allows the attorney to assist the grantor in managing property, and in fact to take over management of property altogether if the grantor does not monitor the situation...

Contingency Fees Revisited

Posted on April 16, 2008
In Re Cogan, the Ontario Superior Court of Justice addressed the issue of contingency legal fees. The lawsuit involved the claim of a minor suffering from cerebral palsy, with the plaintiffs alleging that the obstetrician and nurses attending at the child’s birth were negligent...

The Business of Being an Estate Trustee - Hull on Estate and Succession Planning Podcast #108

Posted on April 15, 2008
Listen to The Business of Being an Estate Trustee. This week on Hull on Estate and Succession Planning, Ian and Suzana discuss the business side of being an Estate Trustee and talk about what to do with assets. Comments? Send us an email at hullandhull@gmail...

Expert Witnesses and Expert Reports (The Cross Examination) - Hull on Estates #106

Posted on April 15, 2008
Listen to Expert Witnesses and Expert Reports (The Cross Examination). This week on Hull on Estates, Diane and Craig discuss what to consider when dealing with experts and expert reports in cross examination. Comments? Send us an email at hull.lawyers@gmail...

Who can you trust?

Posted on April 15, 2008
A massive $110 million lawsuit has been brought by the Attorney General’s office in California against a “living trust mill that tricked senior citizens into using their retirement savings to buy annuities that often made less financial sense for the elderly victims but earned the con artists substantial commissions and other income...

Going Offshore: It's not just the weather

Posted on April 14, 2008
An interesting excerpt from Diane Francis’s new book Who Owns Canada Now? was published in Saturday’s National Post and touches in some detail on offshore trusts as a mechanism to avoid Canadian taxes.Aside from briefly lamenting my non-mention in a book chronicling Canada’s wealthiest, I was struck by the contradiction in the apparent approaches of different wealthy Canadians to the opportunity to avoid taxes...

Worth Repeating - Best Practices on the Estates List

Posted on April 11, 2008
Mr. Justice Brown presented a paper at the recent OBA CLE Seminar Emerging Trends in Estates and Trusts: What Does the Future Hold? Mr. Justice Brown’s paper was adeptly titled One Judge’s “Wish List”: Best Practices on the Estates List...

The Fortitude of a Release

Posted on April 10, 2008
Anne Werker recently brought an interesting case to my attention. In Rooney Estate v. Stewart Estate[1], the solicitor who performed the executor’s duties attempted to rely on a release signed by a beneficiary in his response to an application that he pass accounts in his capacity as de facto trustee...

Trustees and the Duty to Consult

Posted on April 09, 2008
Surprisingly, there is very little case law on point when it comes to trustees and their duty to consult with one another.Where there is harmony and open communication between the trustees, consultation comes naturally and is often routine. Decisions are essentially reached by consensus...

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