In some ways, outliving your beneficiaries is a good problem to have.  It’s usually a sign that you’ve lived a long (and hopefully healthy) life, but it should also be…

Testators should expect some blowback from their disinherited kids when they decide to split their estate unequally between their children.  Whatever the state of their recent relationship, the death of…

It’s hard to think of a better recipe for an estate fight than a deceased with an $80-million fortune and skepticism about estate planning.  According to a Brantford Expositor story,…

Legal advice is a must for testators with complex family dynamics.  Second (or third) marriages, stepfamilies and common-law relationships are no longer the novelty they once were in Canada.  And…

When is a gift not a gift? When you can’t prove it’s what the giver intended.  Disputed gifts delivered during the lifetime of the deceased are among the most common…

A lost will is usually as good as no will at all. When the original version of a will can not be found after the testator’s death, the courts typically…

One of the more common reasons people tell me they don’t want a will is that it’s a “waste of money."  But a recent ruling delivers a powerful counter-argument, demonstrating…

Sharing property with your children has its pros and cons.  On the one hand, there are very good estate planning reasons for owning property jointly with a beneficiary, since it…

It’s time to close the POA gap.  That’s the name I give to the persistently lagging uptake levels for powers of attorney compared with wills.  Surveys of Canadians consistently find…

If there’s anything worse than a do-it-yourself will, it’s one written in a rush. I understand the money-saving draw of will kits – a longtime staple at stationers across the…