Wills, Trusts & Estates
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July 30, 2024
Beneficiary attempts to prove lost will based on copy
The Superior Court of Justice for Ontario was recently asked to determine whether a copy of a testamentary document is able to meet the requirements for proving a lost will.
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July 26, 2024
SCC’s 9-0 judgment on interpreting historic treaties a big win for First Nations, their counsel say
Live up to the honour of the Crown and its “sacred” treaty promises — or the courts will step in. That might sum up the message from the Supreme Court of Canada to the defendant governments of Ontario and Canada in a multi-billion-dollar lawsuit by Anishinaabe First Nations, who ceded by treaty 174 years ago a huge swath of their traditional Northern Ontario territories only to have successive federal and provincial governments “dishonourably” flout that treaty by barely compensating the cash-strapped Indigenous communities while the Crown and big business reaped billions over the decades from the mineral, timber and other resources of the ceded lands.
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July 25, 2024
Judicial appointment announced for Northwest Territories
Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada Arif Virani announced the appointment of Karin L.E. Taylor as a judge of the Supreme Court of the Northwest Territories, according to a July 24 news release.
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July 25, 2024
‘Hey Siri, how can I use AI in my legal practice?’
Whether we realize it or not, artificial intelligence (AI) has the ability to make our lives easier every day. The seamless integration of AI into our personal and professional lives became apparent with the rise of ChatGPT generating emails, speeches and various other documents from simple instructions and the click of a button.
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July 24, 2024
New managing partner for Aird & Berlis
Jill P. Fraser, a senior partner in Aird & Berlis’s financial services group and a long-standing member of the executive committee, the firm’s new managing partner.
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July 24, 2024
Collaborative law and its role in estate disputes
Collaborative law, commonly used in family law, is an innovative approach to dispute resolution — introduced to the Canadian legal landscape in 1998 — where the lawyers and parties involved in a dispute agree in advance to resolve their conflict using co-operative strategies that are out of court rather than adversarial techniques and litigation.
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July 23, 2024
Canadian securities regulators stepped up enforcement in 2023-24, driven in part by crypto schemes
Canadian securities regulators commenced 83 enforcement proceedings between July 1, 2023, and June 30, 2024, with 27 cases of selling securities illegally making it the most common offence, according to the Canadian Securities Administrators (CSA) annual year-in-review report.
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July 17, 2024
B.C. court dismisses defamation action against charity researcher under anti-SLAPP law
The B.C. Supreme Court has dismissed a defamation lawsuit brought against a writer who published letters alleging that a philanthropic gift was part of a massive tax fraud scam, finding that public interest weighed in favour of protecting the writer’s expression.
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July 17, 2024
B.C. Court of Appeal issues groundbreaking ruling on reverse vesting orders in receiverships
The Court of Appeal for British Columbia recently issued a landmark decision that is set to reshape insolvency proceedings.
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July 16, 2024
Do you have a death folder?
When it comes to estate planning, choosing an executor is important. However, it’s not just about the person; it’s about ensuring they have the necessary tools to carry out your wishes. You need to identify the information, documents and contact names your executor will need to ensure the future of your estate and the interests of your beneficiaries are well taken care of. Creating a file folder, digital or otherwise, to hold the information you gather is a great place to start.