Can Estate Trustees Keep a Holdbacks for Legal Fees?

by: , March 12, 2024

Right to Indemnification of Legal Fees Section 23.1 of the Trustee Act, RSO 1990, c T.23 confirms that estate trustees are entitled to be indemnified for the legitimate costs of carrying out their duties. In other words, estate trustees should not have bear the costs of the estate administration. This includes an estate trustee’s legal…read more

Compelling a Guardian or Attorney to Account

by: , January 16, 2023

Attorneys of property must keep detailed records of their management of the grantor of the power of attorney’s (the “grantor”) affairs. The reason for this is so they may pass their accounts when needed. While some attorneys may periodically pass their accounts without prompting, others may not. This can be frustrating for others who care…read more

Notice of Objection to Accounts

by: , August 16, 2021

A passing of accounts refers to the process whereby the court approves of the estate trustee’s accounts. The accounts provide, among other things, details relating to the estate’s capital and revenue receipts and disbursements. While an estate trustee can voluntarily bring an application to pass accounts or be compelled to do so by the court,…read more

Do You Have a Receipt for That?

by: , July 20, 2021

Estate trustees are accountable to the beneficiaries of an estate for the steps they have taken in their administration. Estate trustees should keep a complete record of their activities and always be in a position to prove that they acted prudently and honestly, with accounts ready upon request by a beneficiary. But what happens when…read more

Compensation for Attorneys for Personal Care

by: , March 2, 2021

Today’s blog was written by Tyler Lin, student-at-law Good Deeds Deserve Fair Rewards: Daniel Estate (Re) and Ontario’s Common Law Scheme for Compensation for Attorneys for Personal Care Last year, I wrote a blog exploring the theme of whether bad deeds deserve punishment in dependant support claims (the answer: not always). This blog explores whether…read more

What Is a Formal Application to Pass Accounts?

by: , September 28, 2020

Estate trustees, attorneys for property, guardians of property and trustees of a trust (collectively referred to here as “fiduciaries”) are all obligated to keep detailed records, or accounts, of their management of assets. Fiduciaries can be compelled to pass accounts by those with an interest in the trust property or by those with a close…read more

Stuart v. Stuart: When Spouses “Separate” Due to Changing Medical Needs

by: , September 4, 2019

Separation for medical reason affects married spouses whom are forced to live apart due to one’s changing medical needs or deteriorating health. In Stuart v. Stuart, 2019 ONSC 4328, the Ontario Superior Court of Justice was asked to assess how a physical separation due to a spouse’s admission to a long-term care facility impacts the…read more

To Remove or Not to Remove … That is the Question

by: , February 6, 2019

Estates tell a million stories and the case of Ford v Mazman, 2019 ONSC 542, is just one of them. Mary died on April 3, 2017. Mary’s 2004 Will named her two nieces, Laura and Carleen, as sole beneficiaries. Mary appointed her close friend, Seta, as her estate trustee/executor. Laura had travelled to Ontario from…read more

Limiting the Limitations Act

by: , November 27, 2018

Estate trustees must be ready at all times to account for their management and administration of an estate.  There is no statutory requirement for an estate trustee to formally pass his or her accounts.  However, the court may order an estate trustee to do so.  As part of the estate accounting application, beneficiaries can file…read more

But Everything’s Depending on the Way the Wind May Blow [1]

by: , April 2, 2018

Can an estate trustee move to strike a beneficiary’s Notice of Objection to Accounts in the face of their Application to Pass Accounts, based on any of the Limitations Act, 2002, and/or laches and acquiescence? This was the discreet, though important, issue considered by the Ontario Superior Court of Justice in Wall Estate, 2018 ONSC…read more