This article was first published on All About Estates (allaboutestates.ca/cpp-child-rearing-dropout-impact-survivor-benefits) Today’s blog was written by Monique J. Charlebois, a bilingual lawyer with more than 20 years of experience practicing Ontario estates law. If you have clients who have lost a relatively young spouse/parent who was the primary caregiver to young children for many years, letting …
(Edited translation of article written by Margot Pitou, Master DRHPS (Univ. de Versailles, France), Research Assistant to Monique J. Charlebois. The original article is posted in the French language blog section of this website.) There are several complications affecting the disposition of property which is situated in France but owned by Ontario residents. First, which …
(Prepared with the assistance of Siyamson Pathmanathan, Summer Law Student) Things are tougher now for the under-35 crew. I hear about it in the news. I see it in my own family and in the families of my friends. Fewer young adults are married with children, as compared to previous generations. The economic reality is that …
Last year, an elderly gentleman called me with the following problem. His dear wife was now in a fairly advanced stage of dementia and was not capable of signing a valid power of attorney for property. He was very surprised when their bank denied him access to her personal (non-joint) bank account to help pay …
The Importance of having a Continuing Power of Attorney for Property Q – True or False : “Your spouse or parent can automatically take over their loved one’s finances if you become incapacitated.” R – FALSE! If a person becomes mentally incapable of managing their property, it can be very difficult and expensive for a …
When I speak to audiences about estates law, the same incorrect assumptions keep coming up. Here are five things I want you to know. #1. FACT: A common-law spouse in Ontario will not inherit when the other spouse dies without a Will. People mistakenly assume that long-term common law spouses inherit from each other as if they …
Bravo. You have decided that you will get on with it and write a Will. Now, you are thinking about doing it yourself, writing down what you want to have happen to your property in your own handwriting. In other words, making a Holograph Will. Is a Holograph Will a good idea? In a word: …
Studies show that many Canadian adults do not have a Will. We can speculate about why people avoid this task. Perhaps they lack motivation, don’t want to think about their death, or believe that dying ‘intestate’ – without a Will – doesn’t matter. As a lawyer with years of experience at the Office of the …
A beneficiary abroad may be subject to their own inheritance taxes when they receive a legacy from Canada. They may wish to avoid double taxation and seek information about the amount of ‘inheritance taxes’ paid in Canada. It becomes necessary for the Ontario Estate Trustee to explain the different system. In Canada, there is tax …
There is no official register or repository of Wills in the Province of Ontario. Wills can be drafted by any lawyer and are often prepared (usually with errors) by non-lawyers, including the deceased. A lawyer is not obliged to keep the original, which may have been given to the testator, and then it may have …
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