Stephen Hsia and Honor Lay author series on estate planning for kinless Canadians
Law360
Estate planning for kinless Canadians is not necessarily simpler than creating a plan for a person with a spouse or children. Stephen Hsia and Honor Lay write a 2-part series for Law360 covering general considerations when appointing an executor or...
Succession and the kinless Canadian: Special estate planning issues for kinless Canadians – Part 2
Kinless Canadians make up almost one-third of Canadian households[1]. In Part One of this two-part series, we explained why estate planning is important for kinless Canadians notwithstanding that they may not have any dependants to whom to provide financial support....
Gifts of ecologically sensitive land
Gifts of private land are becoming increasingly important to the preservation of Canada’s environmental heritage. The federal Ecological Gifts Program (the “EGP”) provides a way for Canadians who hold ecologically sensitive land to simultaneously protect nature for future generations and...
Succession and the kinless Canadian: General estate planning considerations – Part 1
More Canadians are living by themselves now than ever before. In 1981, 1.7 million Canadians lived alone.[1] In 2021, this number rose to 4.4 million.[2] Today, single Canadian households make up 29 per cent of households countrywide.[3] Contrary to what...
Widow found to be “spouse” for purposes of section 160(1)(a) of the Income Tax Act
The Tax Court of Canada recently considered whether the term “spouse” in section 160(1)(a) of the Income Tax Act[1] [“ITA”] includes a widow(er) of a transferor tax debtor in Enns v. The King, 2023 TCC 28. Section 160 permits the...
Canada’s new foreign homebuyer ban: An estate planner’s view
Clients, their advisors, and estate planners need to be careful about Canada’s new foreign homebuyer ban. The Prohibition on the Purchase of Residential Property by Non-Canadians Act, S.C. 2022, c. 10, s. 235 (the “Act”) came into force on January...
Gratuitous transfers into joint tenancy and the gift of the right of survivorship: Part 2
In the first part of this two-part series, we discussed the ownership interests that can arise when property is gratuitously transferred into joint tenancy. We focused specifically on the gift of the right of survivorship. In this second part, we...
2023 Canada Federal Budget: A Summary
Canada’s Minister of Finance (and Deputy Prime Minister) tabled Canada’s federal budget for 2023 (“Budget 2023”) on March 28, 2023 (“Budget Day”). While there is good news insofar as Budget 2023 does not propose any increases in tax rates or...
Estate planning and the Indian Act : Practical considerations for assisting Indigenous clients living on reserve
Introductory thoughts When we began assisting Indigenous clients with status under the Indian Act with drafting their wills, we found that there were few resources that addressed estate planning or estate administration matters under the Indian Act.[1] We soon discovered...
Gratuitous transfers into joint tenancy and the gift of the right of survivorship: Part I
Gratuitous transfers into joint tenancy Parents often wish to transfer their real property into joint tenancy with their adult child, or add their child as a co-owner of their bank accounts. The parents may have a number of reasons for...
