Canada: Wills/ Intestacy/ Estate Planning

Navigating a shift in gender identity involves profound personal changes that extend into legal and estate planning considerations. Understanding how name changes, gender identifiers, pronouns, and medical directives intersect with wills and powers of attorney ensures that estate plans authentically reflect and honor a person's true identity throughout their life and after death.

When children have strained relationships, appointing them as joint executors can create significant challenges in estate administration. Understanding the implications of executor selection and exploring alternative approaches can help prevent family conflicts and ensure your estate is managed efficiently according to your wishes.

Estate planning for young families in Ontario is about more than deciding what happens after you die. It can also protect your children, finances and personal care during your lifetime.

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When a family member dies leaving a will in Saskatchewan, understanding who has the legal right to manage their estate becomes crucial. The process involves navigating court applications, priority orders, and obtaining proper legal authority to handle the deceased's property and assets. Knowing your rights and responsibilities as a potential executor or administrator can help ensure the estate is managed properly and efficiently.

Cross-border couples face complex tax implications when a Canadian spouse names their U.S. citizen partner as beneficiary of a Tax-Free Savings Account (TFSA). While TFSAs offer tax advantages in Canada, the IRS treats income from these accounts differently for U.S. persons, creating unexpected reporting obligations and potential tax consequences that require careful estate planning coordination between both countries.

If you intend to make, or have already made, charitable gifts in your will, there is an interesting aspect of charitable giving that you may not have considered. What happens if the charity you named no longer exists, cannot receive the gift, or circumstances have changed such that your gift cannot be carried out as intended? In certain circumstances, the cy-près doctrine may preserve the gift and ensure that your charitable intentions are honoured.

This article is part of a new series, Your Questions Answered, in which Ingrid Tsui, partner and leader of our Wills, Estates + Trusts Practice Group, answers your commonly asked questions about various wills...

Canadian census data indicates that blended families are more common than ever, and their numbers are rapidly increasing. It is not unusual for individuals to marry more than once and/or have several common-law relationships.