On a sunny Tuesday in March, members of the Ontario Bar Association’s Trusts and Estates Section met to discuss practice tips and share suggestions with respect to various file issues.
The discussion began with one participant asking for others’ guidance or experience in transferring ownership of a vehicle held by an insolvent estate where there is no estate trustee and as a result, no certificate of appointment has been obtained. One attendee shared their experience dealing with similar situations and gave some helpful suggestions for how to proceed.
One BBLer shared that the Ministry of Finance has a new process for filing Estate Information Returns online. The fillable PDF form has been discontinued, and the EIR may now be filed online using the Ministry’s online services webpage. The options to file by mail, fax, courier, or in person remain as before. Another participant shared a blog they had come across discussing the new method, and some shortcomings that had been highlighted, including the inability to print or save a complete copy of the draft EIR to provide to your client for review. Some BBLers in attendance at the meeting were hesitant, and expressed that they may resort to the mail-in option until some of these deficiencies are corrected.
Next, attendees discussed their different approaches to pre-taking compensation where it has not been authorized in the Will. Several participants were of the view that obtaining consents from all of the beneficiaries will give them sufficient comfort to proceed with pre-taking. Some deal with this when making an interim distribution while others wait until they do a final distribution to provide a full accounting and seek a release.
Several participants raised some separate but similar matters they are presently dealing with involving difficult situations of adult children living with elderly parents. In some cases, the adult child may take advantage of the parent(s) or refuse to leave. One attendee asked for input on responding to a potential claim by an adult child after the parent had passed away seeking to be paid for caring for the parent. BBLers brainstormed and shared their thoughts on these complicated situations.
If you are interested in attending a future Brown Bag Lunch meeting, please contact the moderator, Rebecca Kennedy at rkennedy@agbllp.com for Zoom details. The upcoming BBLs will be held on April 15, May 20, and June 17, 2025.
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