Normally these blogs deal with matters touching on the work of Wills and Estate Lawyers and Estate Litigation Lawyers. This blog is quite different. We have written many times about the no nonsense decisions of Ontario Superior Court Judge Fred Meyers. If you want to learn further about him, just use the search function on […]
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Apologies for this blog sounding like an advertisement for experienced Will and Estate Lawyers. The recent Ontario Court of Appeal decision in Haddock v. Haddock underscores the importance of the “What if Lawyer”. The case which went all the way up to the Ontario Court of Appeal dealt with the estate of a woman who […]
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Will and Estate Lawyers including myself are frequently asked by our clients – what is wrong with simply using a Will kit downloaded off of the internet? Why do I have to spend $1,000 and more on you, when I can do it myself. The hypocritical answer that I give my clients is absolutely please […]
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For a number of years, the Province of Ontario has levied a probate tax known as the estate administration tax. The first $50,000 of an estate is exempt, but beyond that a levy of 1.5% is administered by the provincial government rounding up to the nearest $1,000 value. The only deduction from an estate’s valuation […]
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The Court of Appeals decision made in the 2026 case of Anroope et al v. Naqvi is a lesson in judicial humiliation. The Honourable Madam Justice Cory Gilmore, a highly experienced Judge who regularly sits on the Toronto Estates List, and is no fool, made a decision at the application level. By that, we mean […]
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More and more individuals are looking for assisted reproductive techniques. The question for Will and Estate lawyers is what advice to give and how does this impact a will. The law on this touchy subject is the Assisted Human Reproduction Act , “AHRA” which replaces common law/property law across the country. One can only use […]
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It is not uncommon for an executor to ask all of the beneficiaries of an estate before receiving their inheritance, to sign a full and final release. The concept is the executor is looking for protection and assurance that the beneficiaries will not complain at a later time over the executors handling of the estate. First […]
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Traditionally, one of the standard methods of attacking a Will is claiming suspicious circumstances. This has been expanded to be a basis for attacking Powers of Attorney. Will and Estate Lawyers can look to the 2021 decision of Madam Justice H J Williams in Rudin-Brown et al v. Brown. She applied the suspicious circumstances test […]
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As estate litigation lawyers will know, when a family is in turmoil and they are fighting over a Will even before the willmaker has died, there may be a temptation to secretly record telephone calls and family meetings as evidence to be used at a later time. In the 2021 decision of Madam Justice H J […]
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The applicability of Ontario law to indigenous persons is a complicated one, and the paramount law is the federal Indian Act. The Ontario Estates Act and Estates Administration Tax Act indicate that for a deceased indigenous person ordinarily living off the reserve, Ontario law applies. This is important as to whether or not the province’s […]
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