Most people, when buying a new home, budget for the obvious things: a down payment, a moving truck, closing costs. There are some other things you should always keep in mind, however, so that they don’t creep up on you just when you least expect them, and can least...
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cesia@wall-arm.ca
Planning for plants
I love my houseplants. I have some beautiful ones that I rooted off old plants of my mother’s, and some that I received as gifts in small planters that I have grown to huge plants, almost small trees. For me, they are far more than mere decorations, but it had never...
Happy holidays!
In Ontario, the first Monday in August is the Civic Holiday. Despite some attempts to rename it Simcoe Day, it has stayed simply Civic Holiday since it was first adopted across most of Canada. While some retail businesses will remain open, most offices will be closed...
The SPIS has returned from the dead
I have written before about the Seller Property Information Sheet. When I’m acting for the buyer, they’re great; when I’m acting for the seller, I don’t like them one bit. Because of the increased liability they had a habit of causing, they disappeared for quite a...
Keep mindful of religion
I once had clients who were having wills drafted. He was Muslim, of Iranian background; most of his family was overseas. She had converted to Islam after marrying him, and they had chosen to raise their children Muslim. It was very important to them to have wills in...
Irrevocable – and binding
Real estate contracts are an odd sort of creature. Most contracts require both parties to agree and sign before they are accepted, but partly because of the nature of real estate contracts – one party making an offer that he or she doesn’t know if the other will...
What’s your cause of death?
Here’s something interesting, and a bit creepy: a map showing the most common cause of death in each state in the USA, after heart disease and cancer. Check it out here. It’s hard to say how this would generalize to other countries. I expect that you would see similar...
Protecting your boundaries
Most people in Ontario these days will buy a property without a survey, or without an up-to-date survey. Most of the time, this will not be an issue. However, there are times when nothing replaces having that knowledge ahead of time. Where a survey really matters is...
Who owns your embryos?
If digital assets are the next frontier of estate planning, biological assets are the next next frontier. It is up in the air as to who has rights over your online self after your death; it is equally mystifying who might have rights over physical parts of you. There...
What’s new in Barrie
This week marks the finale of Barrielicious for summer 2014. Check out http://www.barrielicious.com/ for details on all of the restaurants. This is a great way to try out somewhere you haven’t been before. Theatre by the Bay presents MacBeth, running until July 26 at...