If you are an Ontario executor, answer this simple question: What makes you happy? I’d love to hear your answer. Here’s my answer: making probate simple makes Ontario executors happy. Executors don’t want to use Google to understand estate terms. Remember, Ontario estate terms are different. That’s…
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Anita, like you, was an executor. She used her father’s estate funds to pay for her mother’s nursing home care for years after her father died. This was what dad had specified were his wishes in his last will. Anita never dreamed she’d have problems after her mother died….
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Allison was retired and 64 when she passed away in Ontario. She thought she was too young to need a will. She died without a will leaving a sister, Joy, in California and her brother in British Columbia. They wanted to administer Allison’s affairs. But they had no…
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Albert didn’t bother talking to a lawyer. He was executor of his uncle’s estate. He didn’t realize the size of the estate’s tax liabilities. Uncle’s RRSPs were transferred directly to his designated beneficiaries. Unknown to Albert, those assets carried income tax liabilities. Albert’s uncle left his $100,000…
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I help Ontario executors avoid and resolve estate problems. I am starting a new series for my Learning Center to offer you valuable information. Every estate is different. Each executor will face different estate problems. You may deal with: disgruntled beneficiaries dad’s new wife business creditors mom’s new common law friend houses with hoarders legal challenges Estate assets may disappear…
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It happens after every weekend. On Mondays, my office gets calls from people asking about probate. It usually goes like this: “I’m calling for a friend who is an executor. She wants to know how much you charge to probate an estate.” Sometimes the friend is really…
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You may be able to work with any lawyer to get through probate. But getting the right experienced estate lawyer is important. You can avoid problems later when you need to close an estate. Should you try working through the probate rules by yourself? That depends on…
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So you are managing a trust fund for your nieces and nephews until they reach the age of 25. Will you be able to handle this responsibility? Can you manage investments and file tax returns annually? Are you planning to retire or relocate out of the jurisdiction?…
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Your Aunt Jane was a pack rat. It appears she never threw out any magazines that came into her house. Her home had stacks and stacks of books, years of unopened mail and the strong odor of cats that lived in the house with her. Can you…
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Even in situations where everything is spelled out in the will down to the smallest detail, there will be disagreements. It is inevitable. As part of the human condition, people disagree. Even in the best of families, there will be questions of interpretation. “That’s not what dad…
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