What does a threshold have to do with losing your inheritance? If you have been disinherited by a will, then you need to know something about thresholds that are used in estate cases. Ontario courts now require that you have a minimum of evidence to contest a…
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In our post-pandemic world, it often seems like there are no rules for anything. It reminds me of the Cole Porter hit everyone knows, “Anything Goes”. But anything goes is not the rule when it comes to making your last will. Do you know what your moral…
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Are you involved in an estate lawsuit? You’ll want to know who ultimately pays for your legal fees (costs). It’s a simple question. Let me make my answer simple. Courts follow a two-step process to decide who pays costs. A recent Ontario Court of Appeal decision explains…
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Challenging a person’s last will successfully is becoming more difficult. This is based on my review of recent Ontario court decisions. Signs of dementia by the will maker do not automatically mean the will is invalid. Courts must uphold a person’s testamentary freedom to make their wills….
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Lack of testamentary capacity can invalidate a person’s last will. I will explain “testamentary capacity” or TC. Will challengers need to provide courts with evidence to show a person lacked TC to set aside wills. You may find evidence of suspicious circumstances in a person’s last will….
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Are you losing sleep because you lost an inheritance? You may be upset because you were cut out of the will. Rushing off to the court may not be best thing to do. I’ll explain three costly mistakes you don’t want to make. Will disputes are complex,…
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Do you expect to inherit a joint bank account? Then you’ll want to know what happened to Wendy. Wendy needed to a lawyer to fight for a joint account she held with Larry. When Larry died, Wendy thought she would inherit the $64,000 in their joint account….
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Joint ownership, even with family, can create legal problems. Here are five dangers you must be aware of. Review this list before you consider holding property in joint ownership with anyone, including children. 1. Disaster Joint owners can refuse to cooperate when you need to deal with…
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Do joint accounts really create more evil than good? What if your surviving joint owner has to hire a court lawyer to get the money? There are pros and cons to joint bank accounts. Joint bank accounts are simple will substitutes. Your surviving joint owner inherits the…
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Are you a surviving common law partner? Common law spouses often have to fight to get a share of a deceased’s partner’s property. This is because Ontario does not automatically give cohabiting partners a share of property. Married partners in Ontario have certain automatic rights to share…
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