As we move towards and progress through the largest intergenerational transfer of wealth in history, people are looking for ways to improve the effici...
The use of joint accounts is an exercise in the balance of convenience and control. We are frequently advising our clients that, despite the added convenience and tax-saving advantages associated with joint accounts, adding another person to an account substantially reduces your control over that account.
Many have heard the saying that the only two certainties in life are death and taxes. How the two relate, however, is something that is not often fully understood. An estate tax is conventionally understood to be the tax that is paid on your death.
Monday's announcement that the RCMP broke an apparent terrorist ring set to derail a VIA passenger train is good news. It shows that Canada's existing terrorism laws work. What the announcement does not show is the need for draconian new laws. Public Safety Minister Vic Toews says Canada needs tougher anti-terrorism laws -- laws which his government has put before Parliament. Canadians are being asked to give up liberty for a terrorist threat that seems to be in hand.
When a person is an executor of another's estate, it is a lot of hard work. The task often puts the individual in an unpleasant position of conflict. In order to remunerate these individuals for the risks and efforts that they have undertaken, attorneys, executors and trustees may claim compensation for their work out of the assets which they administer.
Estate litigation can be costly, both financially and emotionally. Thankfully, there is another avenue besides the courtroom that can serve to reduce both types of stress: alternative dispute resolution. Alternative dispute resolution mechanisms allow for disputes to be dealt with outside of the courtroom and are often an attractive means for litigants wishing to push toward settlement.
Because of the importance of powers of attorney to the rights and quality of life of an individual who has become incapable, it is absolutely essential that they be kept up-to-date. A careful review of your powers of attorney should be undertaken every three to five years or after any material life events, such as a marriage or a change in health conditions.
Approximately one half of Canadians do not have a will. For those who do, many are in need of an update. While preparing a will is not a priority for many of us, the reality is that nobody lives forever. The need for valid, well-prepared wills has never been more pressing.
The modern family often incorporates second and third marriages, step-children, half-children and common law spouses. We often recommend to our clients that they create a 'global' estate plan, incorporating other agreements such as cohabitation agreements, marriage contracts and separation agreements. Having these documents well-synced to wills and powers of attorneys can go a long way in sorting things out when plans go awry.
Even carefully drawn wills can become the subject of disputes and litigation. Having a poorly drafted will, or no will at all, increases those odds exponentially. Despite this, over 50 per cent of Canadians do not have their testamentary wishes written down in the form of a will.
Typically, there are a number of triggering events which signal to an individual that it is time to organize his or her estate or will. If you have not yet made a will or updated it in many years, the following events should provide you with the necessary swift kick in the butt to meet with a professional and organize your estate plan.
When most people hear that someone has been "disinherited," they usually think of someone who has been written out of someone else's will. While this certainly is the classic definition of disinheritance, it is not the only way that a person can be excluded from an estate.
Alan Lenczner, Mayor Ford's defence attorney, is a damn good lawyer -- arguably the best litigator around. And he did a bang-up job in court on Monday during Rob Ford's appeal hearing in downtown Toronto. His argument is a legitimate one -- but his argument won't work. That's because it is a policy argument and not a legal argument. Appeal Courts, in general, are not there to reconsider facts -- just law. The appeal will fail.
LexisNexis and Microsoft have teamed up to offer a new solution called Quicklaw for Microsoft Office. They say it is designed to simplify legal research and ultimately save time for lawyers. I took it for a test drive to see if it's all they say it is.
When interests between management and shareholders become adverse, even through the regular course of events, it is important for boards to have their own set of lawyers who are independent from management and seen as objective and willing to act in the interests of directors, not management, and ultimately shareholders.
There has been a colossal breakdown of the Archie family business, and it sounds like something right out of the movies; egos, lawyers, yelling matches, sexual harassment claims, defamation lawsuits and restraining orders. This one has it all. It makes me think of different measures that friends and family members can take when entering into businesses ventures
A trial still unfolding in Bordeaux, France is already attracting lurid headlines as a man is facing prosecution over his nine-year domination of an aristocratic French family. Thierry Tilly of Oxford, England has been described by prosecutors as the "Leonardo da Vinci of mental manipulation."
Long before Mark Persaud became the Queen's Golden Jubilee medal winning activist, the noted Toronto lawyer spent many trying days as a new immigrant on the streets of Toronto, homeless. He opens up on the early days as an immigrant, his law career, why he is a patriotic Canadian and the reason why he is committed to peace and justice in Canada and abroad via the Canadian International Peace Project.
How much force is too much when a stranger attempts to steal your property or break into your house? In one case, Moses Mahilal is being charged with assaulting an intruder. The law should be changed to create a sense of deterrent and to send a strong message to the would-be intruder. The sky should be the limit as to what could he or she should expect for violating the sanctity of other people and terrorizing their homes.
Three odd cases of "justice" are in the news these days, all of them likely to make those who don't commit crimes uneasy. No sane person wants an innocent person wrongly convicted (hence the abolishment of the death penalty). By the same token, no sane person wants a guilty person freed on a technicality. Marian Andrzejewski, Byron Sonne and Michael Rafferty all made headlines for their less-than-usual cases.
I am groggy with disbelief at the London Financial Times' suggestion that British justice should now, having preserved its virtue and a reasonable facsimile of due process for centuries, adopt the American plea bargain, at least in corporate matters.
Hal Neumann had a great life until Canada Revenue Agency investigators showed up at his home one morning with two police officers and a search warrant. He was awarded damages of $1.3 million in an extaordinary verdict that was later overturned. Why?
