ARTICLE
18 October 2018

Multiple Wills – An Important Notification

AB
Aird & Berlis LLP

Contributor

Aird & Berlis LLP is a leading Canadian law firm, serving clients across Canada and globally. With strong national and international expertise, the firm’s lawyers and business advisors provide strategic legal advice across all areas of business law to clients ranging from entrepreneurs to multinational corporations.
While the decision is being appealed, it is not likely to be heard for some time.
Canada Family and Matrimonial

A recent decision of the Ontario Superior Court of Justice known as "Re Milne" may affect planning you have put in place to reduce the Estate Administration Tax ("probate tax").

Where a person has multiple Wills – often referred to as Primary and Secondary Wills – prepared in order to reduce probate tax, the decision may put the planning in jeopardy. While the decision did not invalidate the concept of multiple Wills, it found that the particular wording in the Wills before the Court invalidated the Primary Will because of the manner in which the assets covered by that Will were defined. It is not clear whether this case will affect the validity of all types of multiple Wills.

While the decision is being appealed, it is not likely to be heard for some time.

We are in the process of reviewing our database to identify clients who have multiple Wills. In the meantime, if you have executed multiple Wills, we recommend that you contact your lawyer at Aird & Berlis or a member of our Estates Group.

Those members are:

Lawyer Phone Number Email
Elisabeth Atsaidis 416.865.7753 eatsaidis@airdberlis.com
Jack Bernstein 416.865.7766 jbernstein@airdberlis.com
Rachel Blumenfeld 416.865.3413 rblumenfeld@airdberlis.com
Stuart Bollefer 416.865.3079 sbollefer@airdberlis.com
Donald Carr 416.865.3429 dcarr@airdberlis.com
Ed Esposto 416.865.7786 eesposto@airdberlis.com
David Malach 416.865.7702 dmalach@airdberlis.com
Andrea McEwan 416.865.3444 amcewan@airdberlis.com
Marni Pernica 416.865.7738 mpernica@airdberlis.com
Elise Pulver 416.865.7758 epulver@airdberlis.com
Melanie Yach 416.865.7770 myach@airdberlis.com

The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.

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