NoticeConnect Blog

19 February 2019 TAGS: Estates

Our will registry keeps your information confidential

We're launching the Canada Will Registry this Spring. We've designed it in a way that keeps your data confidential and we've obtained a legal opinion from a leading Canadian law firm confirming that estate practitioners have the implicit consent of their clients to register their wills with us.

14 February 2019 TAGS: Discussion

The top three strangest wills

Some people think creating a will is a solemn occasion - a way of staring down one’s own mortality and acknowledging that nothing lasts forever. Others, by contrast, have taken it upon themselves to make their wills as eccentric and unique as they were in life.

8 February 2019 TAGS: Discussion

Millions worth of Bitcoin inaccessible because of a lost password

Investors of the Canadian cryptocurrency company QuadrigaCX are left disgruntled and worried after the co-founder and CEO, Gerald Cotten, died. You may be wondering why this is an important story for those of you who are in the business of estates. Well, let’s break it down.

28 January 2019 TAGS: Estates

It's official: wills are not trusts

The Divisional Court has resolved the recent confusion caused by the conflicting Milne and Panda decisions about the validity of certain wills containing "basket clauses".

16 January 2019 TAGS: Case Law

Case Brief: Determining the purchase price of a business

In Muchmaker Estate (Re), 2019 ONSC 59, the court had to interpret a provision in the deceased's secondary will for determining the purchase price of his business, among other issues.

10 January 2019 TAGS: Company Updates

A Conversation with the Attorney General

NoticeConnect founder Patrick Hartford had the opportunity yesterday to chat with Ontario's Attorney General, the Hon. Caroline Mulroney, at the Legal Innovation Zone in downtown Toronto.

17 December 2018 TAGS: Company Updates

Introducing the Canada Will Registry

NoticeConnect is launching the Canada Will Registry in 2019. We're building on our Knowledge of a Will notices to solve the problem of identifying missing or competing wills.

30 November 2018 TAGS: Discussion

What We're Reading

For those of us here at NoticeConnect, we like to keep on top of the latest estate news and issues so we don’t lose touch with what’s most important to our clients.

28 November 2018 TAGS: Company Updates

New NoticeConnect Account Features

We've deployed two new features to make your NoticeConnect account more powerful. You can now save draft notices and return to them later. And you can also access your order and billing history, and download copies of receipts or invoices, directly from your account.

26 November 2018 TAGS: Company Updates

Our estate notice matching system

The NoticeConnect Creditor Dashboard is a tool that alerts you when an estate notice to creditors matches one of your receivables.

15 November 2018 TAGS: Case Law

Case Brief: What happens when burial arrangements are contested?

In Miller v Miller, 2018 ONSC 6625 the children of the deceased strongly disagreed over where their mother should be buried until an estate trustee could be appointed by the court.

7 November 2018 TAGS: Estates

Make A Will Month

Every year, the Ontario Bar Association makes it their mission to educate Canadians on the importance of having a will by hosting free events across Ontario.

26 October 2018 TAGS: Company Updates

New Features

This weekend we're adding two new features that will make it easier for lawyers and firms to post legal notices with NoticeConnect. We are always improving and refining our products in response to user feedback.

5 October 2018 TAGS: Estates

Five Pets that Inherited Big Money

What happens to your pets after you die? It has become increasingly common for people to set up trusts for their furry friends to make sure they’re being well taken care of after their owners have passed on.

26 September 2018 TAGS: Company Updates

Event Recap - Ontario Funeral Service Association AGM

This week NoticeConnect attended the 135th annual Ontario Funeral Service Association AGM & Education Conference.

17 September 2018 TAGS: Estates

TLA to Distribute NoticeConnect's Knowledge of a Will Notices

Our Knowledge of a Will notices ask the legal community if anyone has or knows about a particular will. We're proud to announce that the Toronto Lawyers Association will be distributing these notices to its members.

13 September 2018 TAGS: Case Law

Case Brief: When is a will invalid?

In Milne Estate (Re), 2018 ONSC 4174, the Superior Court answers the question: Is a will that grants the executors the discretion to determine what property is subject to the will a valid will?

30 August 2018 TAGS: Collections

Creditor Dashboard Upgrades

Our Creditor Dashboard is a powerful tool that alerts creditors when a new estate Notice to Creditors matches an outstanding account. This week we released some significant product enhancements.

29 August 2018 TAGS: Discussion

Your Top 3 Questions Answered

In an effort to save you time, we've pulled the top three most-asked questions about NoticeConnect together to answer them for you here.

24 August 2018 TAGS: Case Law

What happens when a beneficiary can't be found?

If a beneficiary can't be found, when is it appropriate to assume they've died? The Superior Court of Justice considered this issue in Steele v. Smith, 2018 ONSC 4601 and granted a motion declaring that a missing beneficiary had died before the testator.

18 July 2018 TAGS: Discussion

Three Reasons Why Alberta Needs Online Notices to Claimants

NoticeConnect makes it easy and inexpensive for estate trustees to advertise for creditors by letting them post notices online rather than in print papers. Our court-approved platform is now the standard practice in Ontario. Can estate practitioners in Alberta use us too?.

9 July 2018 TAGS: Case Law

Court Approval: One year later

Today marks exactly one year since the Superior Court confirmed in a written decision that publishing a notice to creditors on NoticeConnect satisfies the Trustee Act.

5 July 2018 TAGS: Company Updates

Partnership Announcement with Emergent

NoticeConnect is happy to announce our partnership with Emergent, Canada’s largest innovator of document creation and file management software.

27 June 2018 TAGS: Discussion

Newspaper closures highlight the need for online notice

Postmedia announced today that it is closing six newspapers in Ontario and Alberta and ending printing for another three. These closures are in addition to the dozens of papers closed

18 June 2018 TAGS: Case Law

How long do surviving spouses have to choose between the FLA and SLRA regimes?

In Aquilina v Aquilina (2018 ONSC 3607), S.F. Dunphy J. explains when it is appropriate to extend the statutory deadline by which a surviving spouse must elect between equalization under the Family Law Act vs the Succession Law Reform Act.