Wills, Trusts & Estates
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January 08, 2026
Clark Wilson names 3 new partners
Clark Wilson lawyers Dan W. Melnick, David Bowden and Sunny Chiu have joined the firm’s partnership, effective Jan. 1, 2026.
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January 08, 2026
U.S. estate tax reform: What it means for Canadians
Around this time last year, we wrote an article speculating on what to expect for U.S. estate tax under a second Trump administration. With the decrease to about half the current amount of the lifetime exclusion amount set to occur early this year unless new legislation was passed, it looked like 2025 would need to be a major year for U.S. estate tax reform.
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January 06, 2026
Parlee McLaws names Guy Valle partner
Parlee McLaws LLP has announced that Guy Valle has joined the firm’s partnership, effective Jan. 1, 2026.
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January 06, 2026
Ontario Civil Rules Review working group calls for expansion of mandatory mediation
The Civil Rules Review (CRR) was launched in 2024 as a joint initiative of the chief justice of the Ontario Superior Court of Justice and the province’s Attorney General. The CRR’s mandate was to propose wholesale reforms to the Rules of Civil Procedure (the Rules), which were last overhauled in 1985, so that the civil justice system is more accessible and to reduce costs and delays.
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December 24, 2025
Law360 Canada is taking a publishing break and will be back Jan. 2
Law360 Canada will be on a publishing hiatus from Dec. 25, 2025, to Jan. 2, 2026. We wish you a happy holiday and all the best for the new year.
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December 23, 2025
P.E.I. to launch first community legal clinic
A prominent lawyers’ group in Prince Edward Island is calling the launch of the province’s first community legal clinic “an important advancement in access to justice” — particularly for those facing barriers to certain types of civil justice.
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December 17, 2025
WILLS - Formal validity, requirements - Court dispensation from formalities - Revocation
Appeal by the appellant from a chambers judge’s order declaring that two electronic communications from the deceased were fully effective to alter her will by removing the appellant as a beneficiary. The deceased sent a text and an email to her executrix expressing her intention to redo her will and remove the appellant as a beneficiary.
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December 16, 2025
Ottawa sanctions four senior Iranian officials for gross human rights violations in Iran
Ottawa has imposed sanctions against four Iranian senior officials who the federal government says “have been involved in gross and systematic human rights violations” in the Islamic Republic of Iran where they “have had a significant role in facilitating and directing repressive policies.”
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December 15, 2025
Dependent support claims: The overlooked obligation
In Ontario, estate disputes often erupt where families least expect them. At first glance, wills can appear all in order, assets may be simple, and relationships may seem calm … until someone who depended on the deceased person realizes they have not been adequately provided for. At that point, even the simplest will can be challenged through something called a “dependent support claim,” a process under Part V of the Succession Law Reform Act (SLRA) that is quite important to understand in Ontario.
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December 12, 2025
The push and pull between testamentary freedom, familial obligations in dependant relief claims
One of the hallmarks of Ontario’s estate planning regime is testamentary freedom. It gives individuals, when drafting and executing their wills and estate plans, the ability to distribute their assets in the manner they see fit.