Articles 2019

Joint ownership of property is one of the most commonly used strategies for property ownership in the context of developing an estate plan. There are specific nuances that must be addressed when dealing with jointly owned life insurance.

During the April BBL, the group discussed a number of issues, including the impact of posthumous conception on estate planning, revocation clauses, and submitting a court certified copy of a will to probate where the original will was retained in the jurisdiction in which it was originally probated.

In this article the author highlights the proposal in the 2018 Federal Budget to increase reporting requirements for trusts and the penalties for failure to comply.

With respect to predatory marriages, too often in the past, the predatory spouse has prevailed because the common law offers limited recourse; that is, until Hunt v. Worrod. Released in December 2017, Hunt v. Worrod may just have changed the legal landscape of predatory marriage in Ontario.

Topics discussed at the March Brown Bag Lunch include wait times for Applications for a Certificate of Appointment of Estate Trustee, the production of medical records, estates involving digital assets, and bitcoin.

The group discussed a number of issues, including online registries for wills and powers of attorney, recent estates and trusts decisions and practices for storing revoked testamentary documents.

Proprietary estoppel protects reliance upon assurances that are made concerning the representee’s right to obtain an interest in property. In Cowper-Smith v. Morgan, the SCC held that a present interest in property is not a necessary component of the test for proprietary estoppel, and directed a remedy, in specie, when the respondent held only an interest in the corpus of the estate, not a specific interest in any asset.

The group discussed several matters, including the Alberta QB decision of Pohl v. Midtdal, 2017 ABQB 711, the differences among the provinces in land title legislation, the transfer of securities and the effect a rollover has on income tax.

At the BBL, the group discussed such matters as the rule from Saunders v Vautier, and how the rule might apply when a trust’s sole beneficiary dies prior to the trust’s date of dissemination; testamentary income splitting trusts; will-drafting and family law concerns specific to LGTBQ+ couples; and the practical impacts of Carter v Canada, 2015 SCC 5 on their practices.

The administration of even the simplest estate can lead to conflicts of interest. Avoiding these ethical landmines may be as easy as asking yourself questions that get to the root of the solicitor-client relationship and help to identify when the estate trustee’s interests diverge from that of the beneficiaries. In this article, Andrea Hill discusses ethical issues that may arise in the administration of an estate, and offers solutions to them.