Archive for the ‘Estate Administration’ Category
Monday, October 25th, 2010
Looking for a Will of a deceased person in Ontario? Not sure where to begin your search? Here a few tips to get you started:
1. If the Will was probated (submitted to Court after the person died), it is possible to hire an agent to do a manual search of the records in the Estates Office at the Court in the jurisdiction where the person was a resident at the time of death.
2. If you know the name of the lawyer who handled the deceased person’s estate, he or she may have a copy on file.
3. If the deceased person owned real estate at his or her death, a lawyer could perform a title search of the property. Depending upon where and when the person died, the Will might have been registered at the Land Title Office in the jurisdiction where the property was located.
4. If you were the executor (or ‘estate trustee’ as it is now called) of the deceased person’s estate, you may be able to obtain a copy from Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) or from the deceased’s bank.
5. If you know the names of any of the beneficiaries named in the Will, ask if one of them has a copy.
Posted in Estate Administration | Comments Off
Tuesday, June 1st, 2010
Question: Would a provision in your Will directing your executor (also referred to as ‘estate trustee’) to use a specific lawyer or other professional advisor be binding?
Answer: In short, probably not. It is likely that such a provision would not be legally binding upon your executor. (more…)
Posted in Estate Administration, Estate Planning, Executor | Comments Off
Wednesday, May 5th, 2010
Do you need a document to prove that someone is deceased? For many purposes, a simple Proof of Death or Funeral Director’s Proof of Death may be enough. These are issued to the person arranging the funeral or to the deceased’s Executor, usually at the time of the funeral.
However, in some circumstances a government-issued Death Certificate may be required. (more…)
Posted in Estate Administration, Executor | Comments Off
Sunday, January 24th, 2010
During the estate planning process, many important decisions must be made. Although most people focus on who will get their estate, another important decision is who to appoint as executor (also referred to in Ontario as an ‘estate trustee’). Both a primary (your first choice) and one or more alternate executors should be named in case the first choice is unable to do the job. A recent and interesting article by Susan Hughes, entitled “No executor required” published in the November/December 2009 issue of the Canadian Lawyer, shows just how important this choice can be.
Hughes reviews a recent Ontario case, Evans v. Gondor, in which a most interesting situation arose. At their request, the court removed the executors who had been named in the deceased’s Will. The executors, the deceased’s sister and brother-in-law, no longer wished to act and there was no replacement named. This left the estate without an executor. (more…)
Posted in Estate Administration, Estate Planning, Executor | Comments Off
Thursday, January 14th, 2010
If the deceased named a beneficiary on a life insurance policy on the deceased’s life, the surviving beneficiary receives the proceeds directly. The insurance proceeds are not included in the value of the estate for purposes of calculating probate fees. However, if the beneficiary has predeceased and no contingent beneficiary has been named, the insurance proceeds are payable to the estate and are included in the value of the estate for probate purposes. (more…)
Posted in Avoiding Probate, Calculating Probate Fees, Estate Administration, Estate Planning, Probate, Trusts | Comments Off
Thursday, January 7th, 2010
If there is no trust in the Will, an executor may wish to pay the child’s inheritance into Court. By doing so, the executor is discharged from further responsibility to the extent of the amount paid into Court. The executor does not need to monitor the Court’s handling of the money, how it is invested, or keep any further records.
When a minor child is left an inheritance, the Office of the Children’s Lawyer (OCL) may become involved. An office within the Ministry of the Attorney General for Ontario, the OCL’s mandate is to represent personal and property rights of minors and unborn children, including estate and trust matters.
Parents may also be surprised to learn that when a child reaches the age of 18, he or she can demand that the inheritance be handed over to him or her if the inheritance is not being held in a trust. The child can also demand a full accounting of all transactions affecting the inheritance unless previously approved by the Court.
A parent (or other person leaving a gift to a child) who wishes to defer payment of the child’s inheritance beyond the age of 18 can include a trust in his or her Will. In a trust, the parent can specify that partial payments of the inheritance are to be made at various ages with income (what the trust assets earn) being paid out regularly.
Posted in Custodians of Children, Estate Administration, Estate Planning, Guardians of Children, Minor Children, Young Children | Comments Off
Tuesday, November 24th, 2009
If you are the parent of a child under 18 (referred to as a ‘minor’), you may wonder what happens if your child inherits. There are a number of ways that a child may inherit:
- the child could be named as a beneficiary in a Will;
- the child could inherit from a relative who dies without a Will (referred to as ‘dying intestate’) if the child is one of the legal beneficiaries under the intestacy laws of Ontario; or,
- the child could be named as a beneficiary of a life insurance policy or any other asset where a beneficiary can be named, such as a segregated fund, an RRSP/RRIF, or death benefit. (more…)
Posted in Estate Administration, Estate Planning, Guardians of Children, Minor Children, Uncategorized, Young Children | Comments Off
Tuesday, September 8th, 2009
If you have been following my blogs on this topic, you will, by now, be wondering if it should have been titled ‘How Not to Avoid Probating a Will’. Admittedly, that might be a better title.
Although I rarely recommend that a parent try to avoid probate between generations because of the many problems that I have outlined in previous blogs, there may be situations where it is a good idea. (more…)
Posted in Avoiding Probate, Estate Administration, Estate Planning, Uncategorized | Comments Off
|
|
