Let’s Talk About Insurance
Most people’s response to this article’s title would be, “Let’s not”, but all of us need to have insurance as part of our risk management program. It is interesting to take a look at the relationship between those things that many of us insure against loss and the probability of such an actual loss. The […]
Free Seminar and Complimentary Dinner
Date: October 30, 2012 Time: 7:00 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. Guest Speaker(s): Andrea P. Kelly, Wills and Estates Lawyer; and Melanie Payne, Funeral Pre-Planning Expert Location: Edithvale Community Center, 131 Finch Ave W, Toronto, ON M2N 2H9 (Free Parking on Site) Contact: Melanie Payne Call: 647-448-3940 or email [email protected] Topics: *Why You Need a Will & What Your Executor Needs to […]
Implications of Citizenship In Estate Planning
It is important that you consider whether you have tax ties to other jurisdictions because of your residency, citizenship or domicile. Movement across jurisdictions and borders is now very common in our world, whether for vacation, retirement or international work assignments. Residence is the act or fact of dwelling in a place for a period […]
Financing An Education
How much will it cost parents to fund post-secondary education in future? It is estimated that the full cost of a 4-year undergraduate degree from a Canadian University in 2028 could be over $130,000.[i] Universities and colleges are increasingly relying on tuition fees to fund their operations. Between 1989 and 2009, tuition fees rose from […]
How Free Are You to Plan Your Estate?
Testamentary freedom is the principle that a will is only valid if the testator was, at the time of making the will, free to do as he or she wishes with respect to the disposal of his assets on death, subject to certain exceptions. A study of the legal framework in which succession planning operates […]
Estate Liquidity
Part of the financial estate planning process is proper planning of liquidity in an estate. Liquid cashable assets can be required in an estate to cover obligations at death, special payments and charitable gifts. It should be noted that we do not have “estate tax” in Canada. The deceased however is considered to have disposed […]
Designating A Plan Beneficiary In Your Will
Ontario legislation enables a testator to appoint a named person to be the beneficiary of a registered retirement savings plan, a registered income fund and other pension(s). It also outlines very specific criteria to effectively revoke a designation made in a will or on the face of a plan document. In Laczova v. House, 2001 […]
Should You Rent or Own?
This is the question! I must admit there is no simple answer and it is not an easy decision. At first glance, it seems to makes so much more sense to build equity instead of help someone else to pay his/her mortgage. This is more true today when rents are pretty high. As a homeowner, […]
When Saying “I Do” Undoes Your Will!
It is always a prudent to review and update your will regularly, say every two or three years. However, there are certain life events which should trigger in a testator’s mind that this exercise should soon be completed. Marriage is one such an event as, with few exceptions, provincial statute provides that marriage has the […]
Ending Right of Survivorship
A key aspect of assets owned by two or more people in joint tenancy is a right of survivorship. This means that when one of the joint owners dies, full ownership transfers to the survivor(s) automatically by operation of law. There are, however, occasions on which it is desirable to have the right of survivorship […]