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Posts Categorized: Estate Administration
82 ResultsNot 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
A RULE OF INCONVENIENCE?
A centuries’ old practice gives personal representatives one year after the death of a deceased to wind up the deceased’s estate[1]. This is often called the “executor’s year”. However, in today’s world, it frequently takes more than one year to administer an estate. What happens if a personal representative does not or is not in…read more
But Everything’s Depending on the Way the Wind May Blow [1]
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
Born Out of Wedlock, Still Out of Luck
Should someone be excluded from inheriting from an estate simply because they were born out wedlock? With “a good deal of regret”, Justice Gray of the Superior Court of Justice concluded in Koziarski v. Sullivan that the answer was “yes”… with respect to wills made before March 31, 1978. Jadwiga Koziarski died on February 15, 2016…read more
The PGT and the Case of the Missing Estate Trustee
While a will offers a way to ensure your assets pass to your chosen beneficiaries on death, not everyone dies with a will. When this happens, the Succession Law Reform Act (Part II) sets out who are the beneficiaries of the estate, while the Estates Act (section 29) ranks in order of priority who may…read more
What an Estate Trustee Needs to Know About Firearms
An estate trustee is tasked with disposing of the assets of an estate. A trickier situation arises when the deceased owned firearms. Strict rules govern the ownership and disposal of firearms in Canada, and trustees must take care to ensure they do not inadvertently break the law (and take necessary safety precautions). The disposition of…read more
Digital Assets Remain a Puzzling Subject in Estates
Peggy Bush, a 72-year-old Victoria B.C. resident, lost her husband David to cancer in August. Peggy, who David left his entire estate to, was able to transfer the title of their house and car to her name without issue by using a notarized death certificate and a copy of the will. The only asset Peggy…read more
New Small Estate Probate Procedure Proposed for Estates Below $50,000
The Law Commission of Ontario (LCO) has released its final report on a proposal for a new simplified probate procedure for small estates. The LCO’s report, which includes 15 different recommendations, envisions the creation of a process for estates valued at up to $50,000. In effect, the new system would be a simpler probate system that…read more
Happy 65th Birthday from the Canadian Government
Canadians can rejoice at turning 65 – you are now eligible for the government benefits offered to seniors. In order to spend more time eating cake and less time searching for the benefits that apply to you, provincial and federal benefits are listed in one convenient website. The list briefly summarizes the different benefits available,…read more