Death binders are in style in estate planning and this is one trend I can definitely get behind.  The idea is for the binder to serve as a kind of…

Testators should take care when “wishing” for certain outcomes in their will. As the sister of a deceased Thunder Bay man recently discovered, not every wish, hope, desire or other…

Bare trusts are getting a reporting reprieve.  Beneficiaries of this common form of trust (and their lawyers) will be breathing a sigh of relief after the Canada Revenue Agency announced…

Independence is a virtue when it comes to administering an estate.  Considering the heavy weight of responsibility that comes with the job of executor, it’s understandable that testators reach out…

Users of a popular gaming platform are getting an introduction to the complex world of estates law and digital assets after discovering that they may not be able to pass…

Performing a title search on your property as part of your estate plan could save your heirs both money and hassle.  Title searches are more commonly performed as part of…

The U.K. has ended its experiment with virtual witnessing after finding it did nothing to halt the country’s growing tide of will challenges.  According to the Daily Telegraph, remote witnessing…

A new law could bring some much-needed clarity to the rights of substitute decision makers when it comes to an incapable person’s beneficiary designations on things like RRSPs, life insurance…

In estates law, your spouse and kids may not be your only dependants.  Ontario’s Succession Law Reform Act allows dependants of the deceased to make a claim against the estate…

The most valuable assets in the estate are not always the ones that would fetch the biggest price.   Over my many years of estates law practice, I have seen plenty…