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.
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.
13 May 2019 TAGS: Wills Holographic Wills and Handwritten Alterations to Wills It is common for people to change their mind about the terms of their will. While going back to a lawyer to make amendments may seem taxing or expensive, not going to your lawyer can result in complications.
6 May 2019 TAGS: Executors Terminal Tax Returns When a person passes away, his or her executor or estate administrator is required to file a final income tax return. It is important to ensure that any outstanding tax returns from previous years are also completed and filed. Failure to file previous returns may result interest or penalty charges.
22 April 2019 TAGS: Estates When is it necessary to advertise for creditors? Advertising for creditors is an important step to protect an estate trustee from liability for the debts of the deceased. Publishing a notice to creditors is appropriate for most estates. And if a client does not wish to advertise, it is advisable to get a signed direction letter confirming this.
18 April 2019 TAGS: Wills When can a will be signed by someone other than the testator? One of the formal requirements of a valid will in Ontario is that it is signed by the testator or by some other person in his or her presence and on his or her direction. This means, that a will may be signed by an agent, or by amanuensis.
11 April 2019 TAGS: Estates Case Brief: Challenging a will because of a "material mistake of fact" In Cavanagh et al. v. Sutherland et al., a mother had made a will disinheriting one of her six daughters. After the mother died, this daughter argued that the will was invalid because the mother's decision to disinherit her was "contingent on a material mistake of fact."
1 April 2019 TAGS: Estates Formal Requirements to make Will in Ontario There are certain requirements that must be met in order for a will to be valid. Generally, all Canadian provinces and territories have the same or similar formal requirements.
26 March 2019 TAGS: Wills It's easy to register your entire will vault on the Canada Will Registry We're launching the Canada Will Registry this May. Your firm can start preparing to register its entire will vault in one bulk upload. Registration is simple, free, and beneficial to you and your clients.
