I read this interesting article earlier this week in the Globe and Mail. The basic premise is what might happen if the federal government decided to make purchasing a home more expensive by requiring much higher down payments - essentially, getting rid of the five per...
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cesia@wall-arm.ca
What to do when a loved one dies
We have a subscription to Consumer Reports at our office. It's a really great magazine with all sorts of great tips for daily living. I was particularly pleased to see an article recently on what to do on the death of a loved one. The article goes through some really...
Renting to own
You may have heard of this scenario: a seller wants to sell their house, and is willing to take rental payment for a set period of time with the tenant to have a first right to buy at the end of the period, usually one-two years. Good for everyone, right? Well, maybe...
Protect your assets – and your body
It's a very poorly known fact, but in Ontario, your executor becomes the owner of your body at the moment of your death. Morbid, yes. But that is how it is here. I speak to so many people who don't see the need to have their wills done because they don't have...
Rent or own?
I read this article the other day at the Globe and Mail and found it both interesting and practical. The author goes through a number of reasons why, even though she could technically afford to buy a house, she is choosing to continue renting for the time being. There...
Choose your own Attorney
Here's another reason (if you need one) to be very, very careful about who you choose as your attorney (for care in this case, but property is relevant too): a woman in Missouri is accused of murdering her father by using a Power of Attorney to withhold treatment and...
Registration
There are a lot of things that real estate lawyers do: searching title, checking for liens, looking at surveys, and, of course, actually registering the transfer. A common question: what exactly is registration? In Ontario, we have electronic registration through...
How to bequeath your electronic bills
Two weeks ago, I blogged about passing on your digital music files. Here's another conundrum: how do you pass on access to your online bills, banking, tax filings, and other digital "documents"? According to this article on SmartMoney, there are very few provisions...
Going digital
Digital cameras led to the demise of printed photos; digital music to the disruption of the CD industry. In Ontario, all real estate transactions are done through the electronic registration database, otherwise known as Teraview. Everything is done electronically:...
Need a will, ask your doctor?
I unfortunately get calls occasionally from people who are at the hospital, or who have loved ones at the hospital, who have discovered their illness is terminal and suddenly realize that they need to have a will drafted. It was no surprise to me, therefore, to read...