At what point do you die? Is it when your heart stops beating? When your brain stops functioning? Some other point? In Canada, there is no consensus on that, and this is starting to affect organ donor levels. If you die in one end of the country, you might be declared...
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cesia@wall-arm.ca
Keeping your lawyer happy
Most of what we do in a law office is behind the scenes, so when we ask for certain things, sometimes clients are a bit taken aback (especially as some of it can be a bit personal). Rest assured, we won’t ask for anything we don’t actually need from you. When you are...
Starting a difficult conversation
Whether you are splitting everything evenly, leaving different amounts to different children, or leaving everything to the dog, it always helps to let your beneficiaries know what you have planned so that they are prepared when the time comes. On the other end of the...
Can you afford to buy?
According to the Housing Affordability Index, bungalows and two-storey homes in Canada increased in price by just under 0.5% last year. That may not seem like a huge amount, but it means that house prices are definitely on the rise. In a high-price market such as...
The tragic tale of the richest man in the cemetery
Here’s a little something lighter, via The Joy of Tech.
Keeping secrets
I had a client ask me an interesting question recently: can you hide your purchase price? The short answer is yes, but it is somewhat complicated. In order to purchase a property in Ontario, you have to pay Land Transfer Tax. The main reason that your purchase price...
iWill
In Ontario, a holograph will is a will that is done entirely in your own handwriting, and signed and dated at the end. However, it must be entirely in your own handwriting – one typed word can make the entire will invalid. In Australia, a will on an iPhone has been...
Initial here
It is not at all uncommon for me to receive an agreement of purchase and sale that is not initialled on each page. While there is no legal requirement that each page be initialled, and the contract can still be valid, it is still important to initial each page. Having...
Dying with dignity
Currently, in Quebec, a bill is making its way toward becoming law. Bill 52 would allow both physician-assisted suicide, where a doctor gives a patient a prescription to allow them to commit suicide, and euthanasia, where the doctor or other caregiver actually ends...
Taking over a rental
It is very standard when you buy a home to take over certain rental contracts. The most common is the hot water heater; in southern Ontario at least, it is far more common to rent a hot water heater than to own one, and generally the contract is transferred to the...