Did you know that November is ‘Make a Will’ month in Ontario? This is an initiative by the Ontario Bar Association to encourage Ontarians to take the necessary steps in making sure they have a valid, up-to-date Will.
Recent surveys reveal a staggering fact: just over half of all Canadian adults do not have a Will. Unfortunately, these studies generally don’t delve into the reasons why so many Canadians put their estate planning on the back burner.
One of the questions that is asked most often by grandparents is “What are our rights to our grandchildren?”. The most common answer by a family law lawyer is “It depends”.
Grandparents do not, as a whole, have rights when it comes to their grandchildren as it is a parental decision. However, in many circumstances the grandparents may have rights due to the relationship established with the grandchild(ren). Even parents do not necessarily have rights, as rights belong to the children.
Just as the Stittsville neighbourhood that Persona Law Group is proud to call home is growing by leaps and bounds, so too are we.
Please join us in welcoming, and allow us to introduce you to, Daniel Therrien [1]. He brings with him a wealth of knowledge and experience. Persona Law Group has expanded our practice areas to better serve our clients and their legal needs.
Last week the world said goodbye to one of its musical legends, the incomparable Aretha Franklin. Just days after her funeral, reports began surfacing that she had in fact died without leaving a last will (called dying ‘intestate’). In this respect, she joins a surprisingly long list of celebrities who have died without a will including Michael Jackson, Prince, and Jimi Hendrix, just to name a few.
Whenever we hear of yet another celebrity dying without a will, we are reminded that the importance of having a will cannot be overstated. And so we take this opportunity to once again reiterate some of the many reasons why you should ensure you have a valid, up to date will.
Mutual wills arise when two parties sign Wills to achieve a particular distribution of their estates and they make an agreement not to change the terms of those Wills without the consent of the other. This agreement is meant to survive the death of the one of the parties. This means that the surviving party cannot change his or her Will to defeat the parties’ original intentions. By way of an example, a couple in a second marriage, each with children from a prior relationship, may agree to sign mutual wills leaving their estates to each other and then equally to all of their combined children upon the death of the survivor.
Executors (now called estate trustees) often have many questions about their compensation. These are a few of the most common questions that we are asked regarding estate trustee compensation:
I’m an executor and have been told that I need to file an Estate Information Return. What is that?An Estate Information Return (EIR) is a government form requiring details about an estate and probate, particularly about the values of the assets of the estate and how these values were obtained. If you are acting as an executor (now called an estate trustee) and have received a Certificate of Appointment of Estate Trustee from the Court, you must file an EIR with Ontario’s Ministry of Finance. It may be filed electronically, by fax or mail, and must be received by the Ministry within 90 calendar days of the Certificate being issued.
My mother passed away. I would prefer her remains to be cremated but my brother wants a traditional burial. Who gets to make the final decision?Unfortunately, what to do with a loved one’s remains is often a contentious issue amoung family members.
Yes, it is possible for a deceased’s RRSP to rollover to a beneficiary’s RDSP. Let’s start by looking at the tax treatment of RRSPs and RRIFs on death.
You may have heard that when a person dies, there is what is called a ‘deemed disposition’ of all of their assets. This means that the deceased’s assets are treated, for tax purposes, as being sold or cashed in immediately prior to death.
When it comes to RRSPs and RRIFs, generally speaking the fair market value of the RRSP/RRIF is included in the deceased’s income for the year of death. It is then taxed as ordinary income at the deceased’s marginal rate. As you can imagine, this often results in a significant tax bill for the deceased’s estate.
