Entering joint tenancy with a child is a common estate planning strategy, but many parents come to regret it long before they die. There are certainly good reasons for owning property jointly with a beneficiary. It is an undeniably effective way to transfer assets while avoiding the 1.5 per-cent probate
Simple errors in your will can land your estate with an unwanted date in court, as a recent Nunavut case shows. While inaccuracies such as a misidentified beneficiary or misspelled name of a beneficiary are unlikely to interfere with the validity of a will, things can get complicated enough that
When it comes to estate planning, a little glimpse of your own mortality can be a powerful thing. For many people, a driving near-miss or a health scare can be the spur they need to finally make the call to a wills and estates lawyer who can help them get
Compliance with court orders is not optional, as one jailed executor recently discovered. The choice of executor – also known as the estate trustee – to administer your estate is one that many testators take for granted, on the assumption that a close friend or family member will be happy
Counting on an inheritance is a risky business. In a recent Money.ca article, the personal finance outlet spoke with a 70-year-old Nova Scotian who had based her retirement plans around the quarter share of her mother’s $500,000 estate she expected to split with her siblings after caring for her elderly
Testators who “trust” their heirs to take certain actions are taking a big chance. Many people use their will to express their hopes and desires about what will happen to the legacy they leave behind. But without the correct drafting, these “precatory” expressions may not carry any legally binding obligation,
