I have a lot of clients who purchase homes or condos before ground has broken, intending to move in at the time construction is completed. Sometimes this is a matter of months; sometimes it can be years. The longer the wait between offer and moving, however, the more...
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cesia@wall-arm.ca
Will drafting for single people
I have written before on the importance of estate planning if you are newly separated or divorced and if you are common law. There are also special considerations if you are single. For your will, you will need to think about who is best suited to be your executor,...
Capital gains tax
There are very few people in this world who truly enjoy paying taxes. One of the least liked taxes in Canada is capital gains tax, that you pay whenever you sell an asset for more than you paid for it. There is an exemption for a principal residence – if you own a...
Avoid some of these common will drafting mistakes
Here are some of the most common issues I see that you should do your best to avoid in order to make life easier for those left behind: Thinking you are too young. Once you are 18, you are old enough to have a will in place. Having a will is always easier than not, so...
The devil is in the details
In law, there is often a lot of grey, but the essential rules are black and white. For example, contracts require three basic elements: offer, acceptance, and consideration. If I offer to buy your house for $200,000, and you accept that price, then we have a binding...
Notifying creditors of a debtor’s death
In Ontario, an executor has a duty to pay all debts of the deceased. This duty applies regardless of whether the executor is aware of the debt, unless there is not enough money in the estate to cover the debt.If the executor distributes estate assets to the...
Getting professional help for your purchase or sale
Living in the digital age, we often go straight online to find information about products or services we are looking for. My husband and I picked our honeymoon destination based on reviews of the best places to travel in November; however, after choosing the location,...
Where is your mother’s will?
For most people, the answer is “I don’t know.” Same goes for dad's will. In fact, most people do not know whether their parents have even made wills, and if so, what is in those documents and where they might be. A will is only useful if you know where it is. There...
How much do you need to make to buy a home?
Here's something short and sweet: a great infographic on how much you need to earn to buy a home across Canada. Unfortunately you can't search city-by-city, but it's a great snapshot nonetheless. Check it out here.
The perils of homemade wills (and wills done by lawyers who don’t draft wills regularly)
I hear it all the time: people want to get their wills done, but are concerned about the cost. I get it; I do this for a living, and I know that it’s not cheap, especially when compared to a will kit. It sometimes can also be cheaper to get your friend the family...