Wills, Trusts & Estates
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July 18, 2025
Registered accounts: Designating beneficiaries
Individuals in Ontario may designate beneficiaries for their registered accounts — such as TFSAs, RRSPs, RRIFs and FHSAs (see Part III of the Succession Law Reform Act, RSO 1990, c S.26 (SLRA)). This designation ensures that, upon the account holder’s death, the proceeds are paid directly to the named beneficiary, thereby bypassing the estate. This not only avoids estate administration tax on those funds, but also often allows for a quicker distribution to the designated beneficiaries as well as regarding RRSPs and RIFFs creditor protection.
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July 17, 2025
Wide-open-door policy ‘is not how we roll,’ Federal Court of Appeal judge tells would-be interveners
The Federal Court of Appeal’s senior puisne judge says those applying to intervene at the national intermediate appellate court should ask themselves whether their presence “will advance our work.”
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July 17, 2025
Forms of beneficial ownership: Inheriting gifts as joint tenants, tenants in common
When property is held by more than one person, beneficial ownership takes one of two forms — joint tenancy or tenancy in common. These forms of beneficial ownership also apply when a will leaves a testamentary gift to multiple beneficiaries, regardless of whether the will expressly addresses the intended form of joint ownership. If a will is silent on this point, the form of beneficial ownership will simply be determined through legal presumptions.
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July 16, 2025
Dentons stands by its commitment to inclusion as it navigates trade volatility, say CEOs
These are “interesting times” to be one of the world’s largest law firms. With about 5,900 lawyers across more than 80 countries, Dentons is helping clients navigate some of the worst economic volatility in decades and generational technological change as it carefully works to protect its own flanks from a U.S. administration that’s frequently been hostile to the legal sector. Global CEO Kate Barton said that while several major U.S. law firms have been targeted by President Donald Trump — particularly those perceived as opposing him or representing his adversaries — Dentons has managed to avoid the administration’s scrutiny by maintaining a bipartisan approach.
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July 16, 2025
Prepare for change: The plain language legal writing standard is coming
What lawyer has not heard that legal writing should be clear and concise? Everyone wants legal documents to be straightforward, client-oriented and “crisp.” Yet, cryptic memoranda, wordy submissions, legalese-filled judgments and insurmountable walls of text in contracts and policies remain common. Even with clarity in mind, writing clearly is hard without knowing the rules to guide the process.
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July 15, 2025
Home sweet home? Legal, practical guide to LTC vs. retirement homes
As individuals get older, the idea of transitioning to a long-term care home or retirement home becomes relevant depending on the circumstances of the individual. This article will dive into the differences between long-term care and retirement homes and the legal perspectives of such.
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July 14, 2025
Federal Court judge strikes SRL’s submission in employment dispute over AI hallucination citation
In another sign of AI’s growing impact on the law, the Federal Court has ordered that a self-represented respondent’s motion record be removed from a court file because it relied in part on a non-existent court decision hallucinated by an artificial intelligence (AI) research tool.
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July 14, 2025
FINTRAC publishes updates to its guidance on ministerial directive on Iran
Canada’s anti-money laundering watchdog has updated its existing guidance related to the federal government’s ministerial directive on financial transactions associated with Iran.
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July 11, 2025
FINTRAC flags rising use of dual-use goods, cryptocurrencies in weapons proliferation
Canada’s financial intelligence unit, FINTRAC, is warning that foreign actors are increasingly targeting Canadian dual-use goods and turning to cryptocurrencies in efforts to acquire resources and information to build weapons of mass destruction and evade counter-proliferation controls.
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July 09, 2025
From duty to liability: The evolution of trustee responsibility in Ontario courts
The recent case of MacBeth Estate from the Ontario Court of Appeal (MacBeth Estate v. MacBeth, 2025 ONCA 360) is a reminder of the personal liability that estate trustees may be exposed to if their actions warrant it — and an example of how the court will address estate disputes where there has been a breakdown in trust between the estate trustee and a beneficiary.