tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4360241295753541452024-03-18T14:03:25.690-07:00Estate Law CanadaPractical, real-world information about wills, estates, inheritance, executors, and elder law in CanadaLynne Butler, BA LLBhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09790353197833765108noreply@blogger.comBlogger2734125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-436024129575354145.post-40868519434536757152022-11-30T11:54:00.007-08:002022-11-30T11:54:49.990-08:00Using wills, probate, and death records to build your family tree.Hey everyone, my latest book is out! Check it out if you are into genealogy or know someone who loves tracing their family tree. This one is unlike any other resource I've seen. It's all about using wills, probate records, and an amazing range of death records to fill out a robust picture of your ancestors. I've included everything from lists of passengers killed in shipwrecks to Holocaust Lynne Butler, BA LLBhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09790353197833765108noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-436024129575354145.post-41004928088646276642022-04-11T06:02:00.005-07:002022-04-11T06:02:52.094-07:00Bankrupt beneficiary loses attempt to keep $1.1 million payable from a trustExecutors and beneficiaries alike have questions about how estates and bankrupt beneficiaries go together. Executors want to know what they are legally required to do with a share of an estate that is payable to a person in bankruptcy. And of course the beneficiaries want to know whether they are going to inherit the share or lose it to the bankruptcy process.This question was recently looked at Lynne Butler, BA LLBhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09790353197833765108noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-436024129575354145.post-14303296762231386452022-03-25T06:58:00.000-07:002022-03-25T06:58:06.422-07:00Another home-made will disaster: fight over the family home ends after 12 yearsOnce, a long time ago, a very smug person said to me that he had made his own will because he knew full well that lawyers only wanted people to make wills so lawyers can make more money. To that person I replied that if I want to make money, I will encourage everyone to make their own wills. Why? Because I would make a few hundred dollars if I made someone a will, but I'd make tens of thousands Lynne Butler, BA LLBhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09790353197833765108noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-436024129575354145.post-66002848683231573432022-03-07T06:44:00.001-08:002022-03-07T06:44:14.470-08:00Does a mother have an obligation to leave her deceased daughter's share of the estate to the daughter's husband?There are so many new, interesting cases these days that I can't possibly blog about all of them. However, this one caught my eye because it addresses an issue that I hear about pretty often. This is the case of MacCallum v. Langille Estate, which was recently dealt with by the Nova Scotia Court of Appeal.In this case, Cora Langille made a will leaving the residue of her estate to her daughter (Lynne Butler, BA LLBhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09790353197833765108noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-436024129575354145.post-29785659096271980272022-02-28T08:45:00.000-08:002022-02-28T08:45:08.237-08:00If a murderer cannot inherit from the will of the person he kills, who gets his share?Have you ever heard that if you are named in a will but you are convicted of murdering the testator, you cannot inherit from the will? In Canada, this is true. But if that happens, then who inherits the murderer's share?Recently, this very issue was in front of the BC Supreme Court. The deceased was Lois Unger. Ms. Unger left a will in which she divided her estate between her two sons, Clayton Lynne Butler, BA LLBhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09790353197833765108noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-436024129575354145.post-79954618905086492962022-02-28T07:12:00.004-08:002022-02-28T07:12:46.493-08:00If you receive a substantial RRSP can you still bring a claim for dependent's relief?A reader raised a really interesting question recently so I decided to share it with all of you. Can you still claim dependent's relief when you received a substantial RRSP? Here is the question:"I live in Ontario, I am a dependant (common law) of the deceased. The RRSP was rolled over to me. I was not named in the will. My question is since I received the rrsp and has all the same penalties as aLynne Butler, BA LLBhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09790353197833765108noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-436024129575354145.post-60535752686215664062022-02-10T06:05:00.003-08:002022-02-10T06:05:42.640-08:00If a house has a mortgage on the death of the owner, does the bank allow a year to repay the mortgage?A reader has asked a question about dealing with a mortgage on an estate property. Here is the question and my comments:"Just curious if a house has a mortgage upon death of the owner, does a typical bank like TD or BMO allow the estate trustee the typical year to settle things and pay back the loan. Obviously, taking into account the monthly mortgage payments are continued to be paid."In my Lynne Butler, BA LLBhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09790353197833765108noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-436024129575354145.post-12787849391966380412022-01-26T12:31:00.000-08:002022-01-26T12:31:02.627-08:00A court will not generally appoint an administrator who has a potential conflict of interest in the EstateI would venture to say that an awful lot of people who read this blog have had to deal with someone in the family moving into the home of the deceased parents. Sometimes it's the executor and sometimes it's a beneficiary, but it's almost always a problem. Someone lives there without paying rent, the estate is delayed and everyone's nerves are frazzled by having to deal with this person.So what Lynne Butler, BA LLBhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09790353197833765108noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-436024129575354145.post-75281566910845275642022-01-08T12:04:00.003-08:002022-01-08T12:04:23.646-08:00Can a tenant-in-common sell his part of the property without even telling you, if you're the other owner?What if the co-owner of your property told you one day that he's no longer a co-owner because he had transferred his share to someone else? Would you be surprised? Concerned about who the new owner might be? Can he even do that? A reader recently asked me about this. Here is her question followed by my comments:"My boyfriend and his brother have owned their family cottage as tenants in common forLynne Butler, BA LLBhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09790353197833765108noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-436024129575354145.post-26262056411826293942021-12-27T15:05:00.004-08:002021-12-27T15:05:47.947-08:00Relying on luck is no way to make a solid estate decisionWhether or not to add the kids to the title to the parents' home is a question that many families will deal with. It is widely thought of as a way to avoid probate. I've seen articles suggesting that parents add the children to the title and I'm sure many of you have, too. But is it really a good idea? A reader recently sent me a question about this very thing, so I thought I'd share it with you:Lynne Butler, BA LLBhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09790353197833765108noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-436024129575354145.post-31286816782774344532021-11-25T11:16:00.004-08:002021-11-25T11:16:47.153-08:00Court is tough on trustee who failed to keep receipts. Really tough.Today I'm referring you to an article written by David Freidman, a law professor in Ontario. The article appeared on the blog of the law firm of Wagner Sidlofsky. The article discusses the 2010 case of Zimmerman v. McMichael estate in Ontario where a trustee failed to properly account for the money and other assets he was holding in trust. You can read the details in the article, which you Lynne Butler, BA LLBhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09790353197833765108noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-436024129575354145.post-6285777272421399392021-11-15T07:21:00.001-08:002021-11-15T07:21:17.496-08:00Judge decides that mother "inexplicably" leaving daughter out of will wasn't so inexplicable after allThere's an interesting new case from Ontario that I'd like to discuss today. Mrs. Mabel Johnson passed away at age 99. She left a will made in 2015 in which she left her estate to two of her three children. She left out her daughter, Nancy. In her previous will, made in 2007, she had left her estate equally to all three of her children.The new executor applied for probate after Mabel died. As youLynne Butler, BA LLBhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09790353197833765108noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-436024129575354145.post-47408677527801901272021-11-09T17:48:00.000-08:002021-11-09T17:48:03.651-08:00Can someone acting under a POA change a beneficiary designation?I'd like to pick up on a comment left this week by a reader about Enduring Powers of Attorney. This is a topic that deserves a little bit more attention. I had said in a post that a person acting under an Enduring Power of Attorney cannot change a beneficiary designation made by the person he or she is looking after. I specifically mentioned that a POA cannot change the beneficiary of an RRSP or Lynne Butler, BA LLBhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09790353197833765108noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-436024129575354145.post-58845758282490044282021-10-30T21:38:00.006-07:002021-10-30T21:38:44.810-07:00Can the executors named in a will of a living person be removed without being notified?A reader has posted a question that I'd like to talk about today. This is a topic I've run into hundreds of times so I think it deserves a bit of attention. Here is the question: "Can the assigned Co-Executors of a Will/Estate (of their living elderly mother) be removed by another family member without notifying the current executors?"There is more than one issue raised here, but what I wantLynne Butler, BA LLBhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09790353197833765108noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-436024129575354145.post-46758615928537130732021-10-24T10:01:00.000-07:002021-10-24T10:01:17.052-07:00Fisherman's Friend businesswoman leaves 41-million pound estate to charitable foundationI recently read a story online about Doreen Lofthouse that I find interesting. Mrs. Lofthouse was the powerhouse who turned the Fisherman's Friend brand of cough drops into an incredibly successful business. The story I read talked about how she recently passed away leaving her personal estate of 41 million pounds (around $70 million Canadian dollars) mostly to charity. She carved off a piece forLynne Butler, BA LLBhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09790353197833765108noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-436024129575354145.post-75818181256310702962021-10-22T09:06:00.007-07:002021-10-22T09:06:53.961-07:00Thinking of challenging an executor? Think carefully before committing to it.Earlier today I answered a question from a reader about whether or not it is worth it to take an executor to court for taking money from the estate, selling off assets too cheaply, and doing other slippery things such as telling people they are not in the will when in fact they are. The reader was wondering about it because the dollar amounts in the estate are not the multi-million headline Lynne Butler, BA LLBhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09790353197833765108noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-436024129575354145.post-18189976540363116062021-10-14T11:13:00.004-07:002021-10-14T11:13:42.879-07:00Funeral expenses: Why executors should pay them promptlyIn every estate, there is a funeral bill to be paid. Does it matter if it's paid quickly? Who is supposed to pay it? What if you pay it but want to be reimbursed? What if the funeral expenses are unreasonably high? All of these questions and more are addressed by Saskatchewan lawyer James Steele in a new blog post called Funeral expenses: Why executors should pay them promptly. Click Lynne Butler, BA LLBhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09790353197833765108noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-436024129575354145.post-60570713356088769062021-10-08T16:37:00.000-07:002021-10-08T16:37:24.084-07:00Relying on non-lawyers to prepare your will may save a few $ now but comes back to bite your wallet laterI'm going to tell you a story. A true one. About 20 years ago, a mother and father wanted to do their wills. One of their daughters had recently obtained a diploma as a legal assistant and convinced her parents that she could prepare a will as well as any lawyer. They decided to save a few dollars by having the daughter do the wills, and the wills were prepared and signed. Ten years later, the Lynne Butler, BA LLBhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09790353197833765108noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-436024129575354145.post-20417167443601940452021-09-21T10:44:00.002-07:002021-09-21T10:44:48.575-07:00Strange celebrity willsPeople put all sorts of things in their wills, some of which make sense to other people and some of which do not. Click this link to see an article from Digital Trends about some strange celebrity wills. Lynne Butler, BA LLBhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09790353197833765108noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-436024129575354145.post-24590717688910156832021-09-19T13:44:00.002-07:002021-09-19T13:44:17.277-07:00Trying to derail an estate by sheer stubbornness doesn't get you what you want but does make you a pain in the assThis scenario with questions was posted recently by a reader. I decided to answer it in the form of a new post partly because there are a few separate issues to address. But the main reason I thought it would be interesting for other readers is that the situation involves people who don't like the will and who are trying to control the estate by being stubborn and contrary. Plenty of families Lynne Butler, BA LLBhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09790353197833765108noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-436024129575354145.post-41328560776291628892021-09-06T12:46:00.008-07:002021-09-06T12:46:57.640-07:00There are plenty of ways to reduce estate taxes and troubles if you plan aheadA recent article in the Financial Post offered numerous tips for minimizing tax as you pass your assets on to your children (or whoever you want to pass them to). Click here to read the article. Something that all of the ideas have in common is that they involve planning. For many people, making a will is the only planning they do. Obviously I recommend that each of you has a will. However, Lynne Butler, BA LLBhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09790353197833765108noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-436024129575354145.post-44080201474681096352021-09-01T17:13:00.006-07:002021-09-01T17:13:36.941-07:00Executor's pay: where emotion and greed meet money and opportunityLately I seem to have a lot of files in which beneficiaries are disputing the amount of remuneration claimed by the executors. There are a few reasons for the disputes, of course, but the main one seems to be an executor claiming the maximum amount of pay when the beneficiaries do not believe the executor deserves that much. In some provinces in Canada, legislation sets out how to calculate Lynne Butler, BA LLBhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09790353197833765108noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-436024129575354145.post-12517154815749203022021-08-28T07:52:00.002-07:002021-08-28T07:52:18.177-07:00Handwritten note found not to be valid, makes a difference of $1.4 millionAfter Eleena Violette Murray died in 2017, a note was found in her home that seemed to change the amounts given to beneficiaries in her will. The note made a difference: without the note, the SPCA would receive $1.4million, and if the note were valid, the SPCA would receive $100,000, with the rest of the money going to extended family members.The matter went to court, of course. Any executorLynne Butler, BA LLBhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09790353197833765108noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-436024129575354145.post-42532296805478029112021-08-18T12:40:00.003-07:002021-08-18T12:40:39.348-07:00Why can't Scholastic CEO leave his estate to his friend and not his sons?In June 2021, the sudden death of Richard Robinson caused a shock to his two adult sons. The reason for the shock is that Mr. Robinson was the CEO of Scholastic Publishing and he left his entire share of the company to his friend and co-worker, Lole Lucchese. His share is worth $1.2 billion, as the company famously published millions of children's books including the Harry Potter series and the Lynne Butler, BA LLBhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09790353197833765108noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-436024129575354145.post-56553949420314175562021-08-17T21:54:00.006-07:002021-08-17T21:54:37.330-07:00Dad's house was sold right before his death, leaving a beneficiary out of luckThis reader had quite a nasty surprise after her father passed away, and she raises a good question: what can be done after a person's death when the incident giving rise to the problem happened before that person died?"My dad had a will named me trustee. Named my son his sole beneficiary of his home and over $350 000 dollars, from his bank account the day after he died. I am livid and so hurt! Lynne Butler, BA LLBhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09790353197833765108noreply@blogger.com0