One of the things that your experienced Will and Estate Lawyers will consider is who are you appointing as the executor aka trustee of your Will. The executor is the person that carries out the instructions you set out in your Will. You would think that you had free reign to name anyone that you wanted […]
Read MorePRESUMPTION OF RESULTING TRUST – PT # 639
We have discussed this concept many times, but because it is such a common factor in people’s lives and estate litigation that it is such a rich source of judicial interpretation. In the 2025 case of Morden v. Niwranski 2025 ONSC 3105 we had a contest between the late husband’s Mr. Lagana’s estate and his […]
Read MoreBONDS REQUIRED FOR PROBATE
A bond is required to accompany any application for a Certificate of Appointment of Estate Trustee, formally known as probate, when there is no Will or if there is a Will when the person applying to be appointed as estate trustee was not named as an Estate Trustee of the Will, or where the applicant […]
Read MoreBE CAREFUL WHAT YOU SAY IN THE OBITUARY
In one of our blog articles on dependency relief, ( just use the search window ) we talked about the case of Cassan v. Giroux. Dependency relief is the remedy the court offers to dependants, such as a wife, or common law spouse who feels they were not adequately cared for in the deceased’s will. […]
Read MoreDEPENDENCY RELIEF – HOW DO YOU PROVE BEING A COMMON LAW SPOUSE
What if someone who could have been ordered to pay you support, dies and leaves you nothing in their will, or leaves no will at all. When you are an Estate Litigation Lawyers, this is a common situation. A Will and Estates Lawyers must inquire about these factors when drafting a will and power of […]
Read MoreLAWYER’S JOB – SELLING ESTATE ASSETS TO PAY DEBTS EVEN IF THEY ARE SPECIFICALLY GIFTED
The decision by the Ontario Court of Appeal, which upheld the trial decision of Justice Chown in the Stewart Estate v. Stewart 2025 ONCA 575, is a clear lesson that preparing a Will requires the hand of an experienced Wills and Probate Lawyer rather than the casual work by a Jack of all trades lawyer, […]
Read MoreINTERNATIONAL ESTATE LITIGATION
The recent case in Bratusa v. Doersam 2025, ONSC 4726, involved a common law spouse and her young daughter seeking support from a Canadian who died in Costa Rica in September of 2024.He and the applicant had lived in Costa Rica for many years. Nonetheless, she brought an action in Ontario asking for dependent relief […]
Read MoreLIFETIME CAPITAL GAINS EXEMPTION
The lifetime capital gains exemption (“LCGE”) is an important one for our readers to be aware of. It is an incentive by the federal government to encourage entrepreneurs to build up a business, and when they sell it, the first $1.25 million of the profit that they have earned by building up the business is […]
Read MoreANTI-LAPSE or WHY YOU USE A SPECIALIST TO DO YOUR WILL
Drafting a Will is not a job for a layman, an online program or even a generalist lawyer who dabbles in drafting Wills. One of the examples of the need for a someone who only practices as a Wills Estate and Powers of Attorney lawyer, is the effect of The Successional Reform Act, section 31 […]
Read MoreFOREIGN GUARDIANSHIP ORDERS
Justice Fred Myers, a Judge that has been featured in many of our other blog articles, rendered an incredibly important decision in the case of Fisher v. Danilunas 2025 ONSC 4359. This has captured the attention of Powers of Attorney Lawyers and Estate Litigation Lawyers. It held that a Order for guardianship made in England […]
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