On June 11, 2021, the Supreme Court of Canada released its highly-anticipated decision in Sherman Estate v. Donovan, in which the Court ordered that the Sherman probate files be unsealed. In its ruling, the Supreme Court of Canada affirmed the open-court principle and freedom of the press as fundamental pillars of Canadian democracy. Background The […]
When a person dies without a Will, or “intestate”, the division of that person’s estate in Ontario is governed by the Succession Law Reform Act (“SLRA”). When a legally married (not cohabiting) spouse dies without a Will, the surviving spouse does not necessarily inherit all of the estate under the SLRA. The distribution depends on
Under Ontario law, a child cannot receive money owed to them (such as from an inheritance) until reaching the age of majority. Moreover, a parent cannot receive money owed to a child without obtaining a court order appointing the parent as the child’s guardian for property. However, s. 51(1.1) of the Children’s Law Reform Act (“CLRA”) provides
Much has been written about the importance of making a Will to ensure your estate is administered in accordance with your wishes, and benefits those whom you wish to inherit your property. However, your choice of executor, or estate trustee, as the role is now called in Ontario, is just as critical. Your estate trustee
The occasion may arise that a testator’s intentions as expressed in their Will are unclear. The ambiguity may be the result of drafting errors in the Will or a change in circumstances between the date the testator signed the Will and the date of death, but this change is not addressed in the Will. In
