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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
14 February 2020 TAGS: PracticeConsiderations Client doesn't want to advertise for creditors? Have them sign an Acknowledgement and Direction If your client is an estate trustee who doesn't want to advertise for creditors, it's important to have them sign an Acknowledgement and Direction confirming they were warned of the risks.
11 February 2020 TAGS: Company Updates With Will Builder's new Export feature, it's easy to join the Canada Will Registry If you're using WillBuilder by DoProcess to keep a list of your firm's estate planning documents, you can use the new "Export" feature to register your entire vault on the Canada Will Registry.
16 January 2020 TAGS: Case Law Case Brief: Disinheriting your only living heir In Re Vaudrey, 2019 ONSC 7551, the Superior Court of Justice considered a case where a deceased individual's only living heir was expressly disinherited by the will.
12 December 2019 TAGS: Will Registry Connecting the Canada Will Registry with Willful The Canada Will Registry has partnered with Willful to make it easier for individuals to register their wills on the Canada Will Registry.
21 November 2019 TAGS: Case Law Case Brief - A disinherited granddaughter challenges two wills In Balanko v. Logan De Chavez*, 2019 ABQB 860, the Court of Queen's Bench of Alberta considered the case of a disinherited granddaughter who challenged two wills.
19 November 2019 TAGS: Discussion Q&A with Kavina Nagrani, JD, TEP We caught up with estate lawyer and longtime NoticeConnect advisor Kavina Nagrani this month.
24 October 2019 TAGS: Case Law Case Brief: Holding up the administration of an estate In Maloney v. Maloney, 2019 ONSC 5632, the Superior Court considered a motion related to an estate administration held up by a notice of objection.
21 October 2019 TAGS: Wills Register your own will on the Canada Will Registry The Canada Will Registry isn't just for law firms and trust companies. Anyone can use it to register their will and ensure that this important document is found when it's needed.
22 September 2019 TAGS: Wills Registry The Canada Will Registry is Open for Searches We've opened up the Canada Will Registry for searches. Searching our database of 100,000 wills is effective due diligence to identify forgotten, missing, or competing wills.
20 September 2019 TAGS: Case Law Case Brief - What happens when the co-owner of a house dies? In Guz v Olszowka, 2019 ONSC 5308, Justice D.A. Broad considered motions related to a dispute over two properties inherited by two sisters.
15 August 2019 TAGS: Case Law Case Brief - Testamentary Capacity and Second Languages In Silano v Silano, the Superior Court considered a will challenge involving an Italian-speaking testator who made a substantial change to his will shortly before his death.
8 August 2019 TAGS: Will Registry A Will Registry for Alberta NoticeConnect started in Ontario, but our Canada Will Registry is nation-wide. Law firms from Alberta have already started using it.
24 July 2019 TAGS: Company Updates New Feature We've added a new feature that makes it easy for firms to automatically take down their notices after the deadline for creditors has passed.
23 July 2019 TAGS: Case Law Case Brief - Varying a Will In Grewal v. Litt, the Supreme Court of British Columbia varied a will that divided a couple's estate unevenly between their sons and daughters.
24 June 2019 TAGS: Case Law Case Brief - Testamentary Capacity and Early Stage Dementia In Kay v Kay Sr, 2019 ONSC 3166, Maranger J considered a will challenge where the testator executed a will at age 89, while in the early stages of Alzheimer's disease.
27 May 2019 TAGS: Will Registry We've Launched the Canada Will Registry NoticeConnect has officially launched the Canada Will Registry. Lawyers and firms can register their will vaults, organize their digital records, and transfer and receive records.
21 May 2019 TAGS: Wills Types of Powers of Attorney (in ON, AB and BC) A Power of Attorney (POA) is a legal document where you provide someone with the authority to make decisions for you in the event that you are no longer able to handle your own affairs.
