Testators need to get specific if they want their will to revoke their beneficiary designations, according to Ontario’s Court of Appeal. In a recent decision involving a dispute among a deceased…
When it comes to your estate, your kids don’t need to be minor to be dependants. Ontario’s Succession Law Reform Act allows dependants of the deceased to make a claim against…
Drafting your will is just the first step in the estate planning process. The second, (often-overlooked) stage involves keeping the will safe and available until the time comes for it to…
Advance care planning can help people break the silence around end-of-life care. While societal attitudes towards sex and money have relaxed in the last few decades, there’s an argument to be…
The recent arrest of a Thunder Bay man shows there are limits to the authority granted by a power of attorney for property. The ease and speed with which POAs can…
Normally when I write about a multi-million-dollar estate, it’s in the context of an ugly fight between the beneficiaries of a wealthy person that has made the news or ended…
Anyone who has been shopping for groceries has had a recent reminder of the powerful effect of inflation. The purchasing power of your money falls as the years pass, which…
Making a will could be good for your mental health. A recent survey found almost half of people who made wills felt “peaceful” after completing the process, while others reported…
People who die without a will could be sowing the seeds of a wasteful court battle over their estate, as the family of an Ontario man recently discovered. When Bernold…
Updating your beneficiary designations can keep your estate out of the courts after you’re gone. Beneficiary designations on RRSPs, life insurance policies and Tax-Free Savings Accounts and other assets are…
