Estate Planning

Estate Planning

Protect a business from marital breakdown

Marital breakdown can destroy a business, but it needn’t be this way

By Nathalie Boutet |October 21, 2015

4 min read

Estate Planning

Help clients avoid lonely deaths

What happens when a person dies alone? A haunting New York Times article investigates this question by chronicling the story of George Bell, a 72-year-old man who died in 2014. Bell lived alone, and had few relatives and friends. His body was discovered by police after a neighbour, who’d smelled the odor of death from […]

By Staff |October 19, 2015

1 min read

Estate Planning

The flexibility of beneficiary designations

Clients can use their wills to make designations

By Margaret O’Sullivan |October 16, 2015

4 min read

Estate Planning

Provincial trust residency tested

In this case, the taxpayer prevails

By Doug Carroll |October 16, 2015

3 min read

A new formula for tax-efficient philanthropy

Client profile Annabelle Bonheur*, 56, is a biochemist at a major pharmaceutical company and makes $325,000 a year. Her deceased parents left her a large inheritance, which includes shares in two private companies and a three-acre tract of land not far from her home in Oakville, Ont., that will likely be a future hotspot for […]

7 min read

Value a business for divorce purposes

Dave and Sandra have managed a restaurant in downtown Vancouver for the past 12 years. But now the couple is divorcing and wants to sell the business. They need to know the value of their company for a net worth statement. Where should they start?

By Staff |October 9, 2015

6 min read

Implications of new probate rules in Ontario

Valuing an estate for probate used to be relatively simple in Ontario: executors entered the total value of the estate on the probate application, signed an accompanying affidavit stating the valuation was correct, and that was usually that. Not any more. As of January 1, Ontario executors (known as estate trustees) must file an Estate […]

By James Dolan |October 9, 2015

4 min read

Estate Planning

Protect a business from marital breakdown

Help clients avoid lonely deaths

The flexibility of beneficiary designations

Provincial trust residency tested

The pitfalls of non-resident PoAs

A new formula for tax-efficient philanthropy

Value a business for divorce purposes

Implications of new probate rules in Ontario

How to help divorcing clients

Design a dynasty with perpetual trusts