Wills, Estates, Trusts, Health Care Directives and Powers of Attorney
From drafting simple wills and health care directives to overseeing complex estates and trusts, our lawyers help you smoothly navigate this important legal area.
We help you with:
- estate and life planning
- probate issues and estate administration
- tax planning
- arranging personal and property guardianship
- powers of attorney
- estate litigation
- creation and operation of holding companies
- establishment, registration and operation of trusts, charitable organizations and foundations
Allan M. Haubrich, q.c.
Darlene N. Wingerak
Marinko J. Jelovic
Siobhan H. Morgan
Ben W. Parsonson
Paula Bittman
Saskatchewan Estate Litigation Update: McStay v Berta Estate, 2021 SKCA 51
A recent case from the Saskatchewan Court of Appeal, reminds us that a Chambers judge cannot decide conflicting evidence on the basis of affidavits. Rather, any weighing of credibility must wait for the later trial. The case in McStay arose out of a will...
Can someone be held liable for the misdeeds of a co-executor?
Today’s post is a link to an article previously posted on a blog operated by Wagner Sidlofsky, a well-known Toronto estate law firm. The article reminds executors that they can face liability if they fail to supervise their co-executor. This is illustrated by the...
The potential dangers of adding children as joint tenants
Many people like to add the name of a child, or children, to their home. The hope is to avoid probate fees on the death of the parent, and have the asset go directly to the children. However, before you make this decision, be aware of the following potential danger:...
Who approves compensation for the executors?
The vast majority of estates see beneficiaries consent to the compensation amount requested by the executor. However, sometimes the beneficiaries feel that the compensation is too high for the work actually done.
The “wills exception” to solicitor-client privilege
Solicitor-client privilege means communications between a lawyer and a client, are confidential. Thus, if a third party wants to see what a client told their lawyer when seeking advice, the court will not allow this.
Estate Litigation Update – Thorne v Thorne
A recent case of the Saskatchewan Court of Queen Bench offers the following lesson: the Court’s power to “fix” clerical mistakes in Wills, may not necessarily be ordered if there are deeper concerns about the testator’s actual testamentary intentions. Section 37 of...