29 July 2020 TAGS: Case Law Case Brief - The costs implications of a weak position, for counsel and client In Eisenrieder Estate v Eisenrieder, 2020 ABQB 392, the Court of Queen's Bench considered the issue of costs, following a dispute over interpretation of a Will in which one party advanced a weak position.
23 July 2020 TAGS: PracticeConsiderations Avoiding Common Errors When Applying for Probate Obtaining a certificate of appointment of estate trustee with or without a will can be a process. As many estate lawyers know, it is not often that an application is approved upon first submission, in fact most are returned for corrections.
22 July 2020 TAGS: Wills How to Store Your Will Securely And while it’s important that a will is made, it’s also important that it’s stored properly. If the will can’t be found, it simply can’t be acted upon. That’s why we’ve put together these tips on storing wills.
9 July 2020 TAGS: Estates 4 Frequently Asked Questions About Posting a Notice to Creditors Whether you're posting for a client or you're an estate trustee yourself, publishing a Notice to Creditors on NoticeConnect.com is an important step to protect the estate trustee from personal liability.
24 June 2020 TAGS: Discussion e-Wills coming to British Columbia The BC Government has put forward legislation that would allow for remotely-witnessed, electronically-signed, self-proving wills.
23 June 2020 TAGS: PracticeConsiderations Administering Estates During COVID-19 With most parts of Ontario entering phase two, there will certainly be a backlog of probate applications being processed, unless there is some urgency. While courts continue to accept and process probate applications, we can expect months long delay in receiving Certificates.
18 June 2020 TAGS: Case Law Case Brief - Appealing a decision interpreting a will In Kirst Estate (Re), 2020 ABCA 233, the Alberta Court of Appeal considered an appeal of a trial judge's interpretation of a will.
16 June 2020 TAGS: Tech How We Protect Your Passwords We’re outlining the steps we take at NoticeConnect to keep your confidential data secure. While we can’t go into too much detail for security reasons, this should provide a helpful overview.
11 June 2020 TAGS: Estates HBO's Succession and Estate Planning Tips HBO's hit show Succession chronicles the intertwined business and family drama of a high profile media family. The characters may be billionaires but the estate planning elements of the show are a reality for anyone doing succession planning.
25 May 2020 TAGS: PracticeConsiderations Practice Considerations: Working With Clients Who Have Disabled Beneficiaries Working with clients who have beneficiaries or loved ones with a disability requires a different approach from standard estate planning processes.
22 May 2020 TAGS: Tech 5 Password Best Practices for Law Firms In their day-to-day work, lawyers use lots of passwords. From computers to client files to online services, there's no shortage of login credentials to keep track of.
21 May 2020 TAGS: Case Law Case Brief - Removing a co-executor due to conflict of interest In Durand v. Durand et al., the Court of Queen's Bench of Manitoba considered an application to remove a co-executor of an estate on the grounds that his ownership of a corporation was at odds with his fiduciary duty to the beneficiaries.
19 May 2020 TAGS: Features New Features with NoticeConnect Plus We've launched NoticeConnect Plus, an optional subscription service that gives your firm access to powerful new features.
29 April 2020 TAGS: Tech Law & Cybersecurity - How Private is Email? We all use email every day. It's an indispensable tool for communicating with lawyers and clients. As NoticeConnect's Chief Technology Officer, I architect and oversee our platform's cybersecurity.
28 April 2020 TAGS: Will Registry Now is the perfect time to organize your will vault With the COVID-19 shutdown disrupting law firms' usual routines and workflow, there's never been a better time to organize your firm's will vault and index.
23 April 2020 TAGS: Case Law Case Brief - A holographic will and Alzheimer's disease In Arena Estate (Re), 2020 ABQB 206, the Court of Queen's Bench of Alberta considered whether a collection of letters, written by a woman with Alzheimer's disease, constituted a valid will.
22 April 2020 TAGS: Discussion Tips on New Ways to Work Amidst a Pandemic Many of us have been working from home for over a month now. After an initial adjustment period, we're settled into a routine and can reflect on some of the pros and cons of doing our work outside of the office.
21 April 2020 TAGS: PracticeConsiderations Estate Practice Considerations Amidst COVID-19 As of April 7, 2020 and for the duration of the COVID-19 emergency, an emergency Order In Council was made under s.7.1 of the Emergency Management and Civil Protection Act, allowing for Ontarians to sign their Will and Powers of Attorney documents with the use of virtual witnesses.
30 March 2020 TAGS: Wills Case Brief - The Rule Against Perpetuities In Goss Estate (Re), 2020 ABQB 121, the Court of Queen's Bench of Alberta considered whether provisions of a will violated the Rule Against Perpetuities.
23 March 2020 TAGS: Will Registry How our Canada Will Registry helps professionals work from home As law firms across the country institute work-from-home policies in response to COVID-19, the centrality of paper records in wills and estates is causing problems.
20 March 2020 TAGS: PracticeConsiderations What is Testamentary Capacity and How to Identify Capacity Issues With Elderly Clients In law, there is a presumption of testamentary capacity when an adult executes a will. The legal test for testamentary capacity initially set out in Banks v Goodfellow and adopted by the Supreme Court of Canada in Ouderkirk v Ouderkirk will be discussed.
18 March 2020 TAGS: PracticeConsiderations 5 Tips From a Tech Company on Working From Home As a legal tech company, oftentimes we work from home or have the option to. With the current COVID-19 pandemic many companies are asking their employees to work from home. Below we have listed some tips to help you work from home!
16 March 2020 TAGS: Estates Death and Taxes: 5 Tips for Executors Administering an estate? If you've never been an estate administrator before, it can seem like an overwhelming task with many bases to cover. It is helpful to know what you are getting yourself into and the best practices to properly administer an estate so that no stone is left unturned.
5 March 2020 TAGS: Wills 3 Things to Consider Before Contesting a Will Contesting a will can be a long and exhausting process along with an emotional and financial burden for you and your family. In some situations though, it is necessary. Here are some considerations if you're contemplating a will challenge.
25 February 2020 TAGS: Case Law Case Brief - Mental Health and Testamentary Capacity In Leonard v. Zychowicz, 2020 ONSC 662, the Superior Court considered the case of a will challenged on the grounds that the testator's history of bipolar disorder meant she lacked testamentary capacity.
