Under Section 61(1) of the Succession Law Reform Act (“SLRA”), an application for dependant’s support is required to be made within 6 months from the time that the estate trustee or executor gets probate for the estate. The legal term for “probate” is when a Certificate of Appointment of Estate Trustee is issued by the … Continued
Read MoreThe Courts in Toronto have introduced a new tool, with the intention of making proceedings more accessible and less costly for people using the system. Video conferencing will now be available for 9:30 am appointments on the Estates List in the Toronto Region. Consent or unopposed matters and scheduling orders in Toronto Estates List matters … Continued
Read MoreWhen deciding to prepare powers of attorney for personal care and property, it is imperative to carefully consider who you want to appoint as your attorney(s). In the event you decide to appoint multiple attorneys, is also important to consider whether you want each of them to be empowered to make decisions separately or if … Continued
Read MoreThere are various Tax minefields that I continuously come across in the course of my practice as an Estate Litigation Lawyer, a lawyer who sues other lawyers for tax errors that cause losses and as an Estate Trustee/Guardian/ Attorney for Property. I am far from being a Tax expert and specifically advise my clients that … Continued
Read MoreHistorically, a party’s legal costs for estate litigation were generally paid from the estate, rather than by the parties involved. However, the attitude of the court has changed significantly over the past few years. Any party involved in estate litigation can no longer expect that their costs will be paid out of the estate – … Continued
Read MoreTony Stark, the billionaire genius playboy philanthropist better known to the world as the Marvel Comics superhero, Iron Man, has been severely injured and is now in a coma. This has unfortunately rendered him unable to manage his business empire, known as Stark Industries. Fortunately, Stark had a plan in place to ensure that everything … Continued
Read MoreOnce upon a time, it was thought that costs in estate litigation could usually be expected to come from the estate. On the one hand, this gave parties with limited resources access to the machinery of the justice system, knowing that their legal fees were likely to be reimbursed at the end, win or lose. … Continued
Read MoreIn Estates litigation, it is not uncommon for parties to be close to settlement, but are stymied by haggling over the exact terms of the minutes of settlement (or contract) and the delays by the exchange of drafts back and forth, between the parties’ respective lawyers. This begs the question: at what point is the … Continued
Read MoreWhen a person dies without a will, they are said to have died intestate. In Ontario, Part II of the Succession Law Reform Act sets out how that person’s estate is to be distributed. Married without children Betty dies without a will. She is married to Arnold, who survivors her and they do not have any … Continued
Read MoreAn estate trustee has a duty to locate and notify all of the beneficiaries of an estate. But what happens when a beneficiary has lost touch with their family, or is missing and has not been heard from in years? It is not uncommon for a person to prepare their will a number of years … Continued
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