Articles 2024

A reminder to the profession: estate administration tax rates change effective January 1, 2020, as do deadlines for Estate Information Returns. Update your probate fee calculators and tickler systems accordingly!

In several common scenarios, an estate trustee may have to post a bond before the court will grant probate. Estate trustees routinely ask the court to waive the bond requirement, but the application process is more rigorous than many estates practitioners appreciate. Don't have your client's application needlessly rejected. This article, Part 1 of a two-part series, highlights common mistakes and oversights. Part 2 will explain how to obtain a bond, if it becomes necessary.

Highlights from the October 15 meeting of the OBA's Brown Bag Lunch program for estates and trusts practitioners, including discussion of common probate issues, insolvent estates, electronic estate-planning tools, and the purpose (or lack thereof) of survivorship clauses.

A summary of the Minister of Seniors Mandate Letter includes creating a national definition of elder abuse.

Victims of crime in Ontario will now get significantly less compensation and will no longer have their cases heard before an impartial adjudicator after Bill 100 amends the Compensation for Victims of Crime Act and dissolves the Criminal Injuries Compensation Board.

Review of the November 28th program co-chaired by the Aboriginal Law and Child and Youth Law sections entitled: Legislative Spotlight: Bill C-92 and its impact on your practice.

In October, the MECP posted a proposal to the Environmental Registry for amendments to O. Reg. 63/09 under the Ontario Pesticides Act. The proposal would replace pesticide Classes 1 to 6 with four classes – Class A (manufacturing), Class B (restricted), Class C (commercial) and Class D (domestic). Class 12, which relates to neonicotinoid treated seeds, would be replaced with Class E. Classes 7 to 11, would no longer be needed as they would be expressly incorporated into the Regulation.

Read a brief profile of Gabriela Ramo, Chair of the OBA Citizenship and Immigration Section Executive.

Following are this past week's summaries of the civil decisions of the Court of Appeal for Ontario.

The Federal Court of Canada recently ruled that a release signed upon termination of employment does not bar an unjust dismissal complaint under the Canada Labour Code (“Code”), as parties cannot contract out of Part III of the Code (Bank of Montreal v. Li, 2018 FC 1298 (CanLII) (“Li”)).