Articles 2020

Those who draft complex trust instruments need to keep in mind various clauses that can modify a trustee’s duty, offering protection where liability would otherwise attach. This blog discusses a recent Hong Kong case and its upholding of an anti-Bartlett clause, used to to exclude a trustee's duty to supervise or intervene in the management of a company in which the trust holds shares.

A summary of some useful practice tips covered at the OBA Program Kissing Cousins Reunited: Focus On Family Law Issues In Estates Planning, including how to manage joint retainers - and when to avoid them - for spouses with blended families.

In the face of Covid-19, the OBA’s Brown Bag Lunches have continued via Zoom, and become an even more important forum for practitioners. At the March BBL meeting, members grappled with new challenges of court closures and practicing in the era of social distancing, plus more enduring issues such as the relationship between capacity to consent to MAID and testamentary capacity, and an attorney for property or personal care’s ability to make substitute decisions about reproductive material.

In Lawen Estate, the Nova Scotia Supreme Court held that testamentary autonomy is protected by s. 7 of the Charter, and the provisions of the Testators’ Family Maintenance Act which allow a judge to grant dependant's support to independent adult children were not saved by s. 1. This article considers what the court's ruling might mean for dependant's support legislation across Canada, as well as what effect it might have on the court's approach to public policy limits of testamentary freedom.

While social distancing remains in effect, everyday elements of our legal practice have become the most complicated. This article summarizes the guidelines available for virtual commissioning of affidavits and sets out a step-by-step process for putting virtual commissioning into practice, including the pros and cons of different methods, some stumbling blocks, and how to mitigate the associated risks.

This article is essential reading for those with matters before the Toronto Estates Court. The Estates List Users’ Committee (“ELUC”) is comprised of members of the Toronto Estates Court and various stakeholders, including representatives of the OBA Estates & Trusts executive, who meet regularly to discuss issues affecting the court. This article summarizes the direction given by the court at recent meetings regarding practice during the suspension of normal court operations.

Topics discussed at the February meeting included disclaimer provisions in mutual wills, tax treatment of attorney compensation, thorny issues facing the calculation of estate administration tax, and estate trustee liability in the face of an insufficient holdback, among others.

A summary of the topics discussed at the January meeting of the OBA's Brown Bag Lunch program, or "BBL." Discussion covered planning-related topics such as ODSP limits, lifetime benefit trusts, and the prudent investor rule, as well as litigation issues such as bank policies around multiple attorneys acting under a joint POA, and the court's process when a Notice of Objection to a Certificate of Appointment of Estate Trustee has been filed.