Deadbeat

At its meeting on April 11, 2012, the Civil Rules Committee endorsed amendments to the Rules of Civil Procedure, Tariff C and prescribed forms relating to estates matters, as proposed by the Estates Subcommittee of the Civil Rules Committee.

A recent Canada Revenue Agency (“CRA”) ruling emphasizes not only the importance of exercising the price adjustment clause when required, but also the scope of the application of subsection 75(2) of the Income Tax Act (the “Act”) to a typical estate freeze transaction.

At the Estates List Users Committee meeting of December 13, 2011, we were introduced to Justice Kevin Whitaker, who was appointed as the new Lead Administrative Judge of the Estates List effective January 1, 2012. Justice Whitaker replaces Justice Barbara Conway.

Solicitors who engage in estate administration work will be interested to learn about a set of circumstances in which estate trustees appointed in a will can avoid the necessity of applying for a certificate of appointment of estate trustee with a will.

In Alberta, the new Wills and Succession Act (WSA) received Royal Assent on December 2, 2010. The Act was proclaimed in force as of February 1, 2012, except for s. 117.

In 1999, Beniamino Aragona was appointed guardian of property for his mother Maria Emilia Aragona who suffered from Alzheimer’s disease and lived in a nursing home.

Most readers will undoubtedly recall the decision of The Honourable Mr. Justice D.M. Brown in Smith Estate v. Rotstein.

In Miller v. Miller, the Court considered the issue of a daughter’s fiduciary duty toward her mother.

The Honourable Justice Stinson was asked to determine whether a document handwritten by the deceased in 2001 was a valid holograph will and, if so, to what extent it had revoked the deceased’s earlier will that had been prepared in 1998 by a lawyer.

Decision-making for another person near the end of that person’s life presents some of the most difficult and challenging situations, the Rasouli case is one example.