Selecting your attorney for property is not a decision to be taken lightly. An attorney for property is a fiduciary, holds a position of trust, and can do anything with your money and property that you could do yourself , except make a Will. Needless to say, your attorney should be trustworthy, financially responsible, and […]
Sections 3 and 4 of the Succession Law Reform Act, R.S.O. 1990, c S.26 (“SLRA“) set out requirements for a valid Will in Ontario. The document must be in writing, signed by the testator, in the presence of two subscribing witnesses who watched the testator sign the document. But can the mere outline of a
In Re Lacroix Estate, 2021 ONSC 2919, the Ontario Superior Court of Justice considered whether a testator’s handwritten note could incorporate by reference the testator’s unsigned but initialed typewritten Will. Facts On May 19, 2020, during the height of the COVID-19 lockdown, Rebecca Stephanie Lacroix contacted a solicitor, Margaret Opatovsky. Ms. Lacroix advised that she
Estate trustees are accountable to the beneficiaries of an estate for the steps they have taken in their administration. Estate trustees should keep a complete record of their activities and always be in a position to prove that they acted prudently and honestly, with accounts ready upon request by a beneficiary. But what happens when
On June 11, 2021, the Supreme Court of Canada released its highly-anticipated decision in Sherman Estate v. Donovan, in which the Court ordered that the Sherman probate files be unsealed. In its ruling, the Supreme Court of Canada affirmed the open-court principle and freedom of the press as fundamental pillars of Canadian democracy. Background The
