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Posts Categorized: Advice to Executors and Trustees
31 ResultsMy Sister Died Without a Will – What Happens Now?
A will allows an individual to decide in advance who will administer her estate and who will receive her assets when she dies. Testamentary freedom is guaranteed to all Canadians, meaning we are free to choose who will benefit from our estates: family members, friends, pets, charities, or our favourite sports team. (Note that most…read more
How Much Compensation Is An Estate Executor Entitled To?
After being appointed as estate trustee or executor of an estate, it can be unclear how much compensation can be claimed for administering the estate. In addition, beneficiaries often object to the amount claimed. How is executor compensation determined? In some cases, the will itself outlines the amount of compensation that may be claimed or…read more
Clash of the Limitation Periods
The Limitations Act, 2002, SO 2002, c 24, Sch B, brought order and clarity to limitation periods in Ontario. However, the Limitations Act did not displace all existing limitation periods established by statute. Several carve-outs which are particularly relevant to estates litigators includes the Real Property Limitations Act, RSO 1990, c L.15 and s. 38(3)…read more
The Tax Clearance Certificate, Demystified
As legal representative of an estate, the estate trustee’s obligations are varied. One of their duties is to bring the deceased’s taxes up to date and to file all estate tax returns before the estate is wound up. To exonerate their potential liability to outstanding tax issues pursuant to subsection 159(3)(a) of the Income Tax…read more
To Remove or Not to Remove … That is the Question
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
Not So Fast – Who Controls the Body?
“He knows where the bodies are buried” is a throwaway line from Orson Wells’ cinematic masterpiece, Citizen Kane. That line soon took on a life of its own and entered the cultural vernacular. In the world of estates, a more frequent problem is not finding the bodies but deciding where to bury the bodies. In…read more
The Final Countdown
As Justice S. Nakatsuru observed in the Ontario Superior Court of Justice’s decision in Sinclair v. Harris, 2018 ONSC 5718, “[n]o one likes to see a limitation period applied to dismiss a case”. That being said, and as we will soon learn, even if they result in less than satisfactory conclusions, there are good reasons…read more
Insolvent and Bankrupt Estates
Estate trustees and beneficiaries often focus on the positive – the many and varied assets of an estate which will soon be distributed to the beneficiaries. It is only after the estate administration is underway that the full financial picture emerges – an estate that appeared flush may actually have more debts than there are…read more
Limitation Period Precludes Motion to Set Aside Releases
In the usual litigation battle, a release operates as a “shield” in the sense that if a beneficiary sues an estate trustee, the estate trustee can use the release as a defence. In Re: Sheard, the estate trustees were able to use signed releases to preclude them from having to pass their accounts for the period…read more
The General Who Would Be King
I recently travelled to Washington, DC. I was again reminded of the grandeur of a capital city and how well the Americans celebrate their past, Founding Fathers, and assorted heroes. American myth making can be beguiling. I had the opportunity to tour the Capital Building and George Washington’s ancestral home, Mount Vernon. It was at…read more