I came across this story the other day about a gift left to charity that ended up in the wrong place. Basically, the donation was accidentally sent to the wrong animal shelter; both had the same name, but were in identically named cities in different states. In this...
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Estate Planning
Changing it up
Many people know that, on marriage, your will is automatically revoked. There is a good public policy reason for this: your spouse should not be disinherited simply because you forgot to update your will. (I touched on the issue of predatory marriages a while back.)...
Two thumbs up for doing your estate plan right
Roger Ebert, the film critic famous for popularizing the "two thumbs up" concept for movies, passed away last month after a long battle with cancer. Ebert's estate gives us an important lesson: take warnings from people close to you very much to heart. Ebert's friend...
Things no one tells you about death
I came across this post the other day (warning: some NSFW text) and immediately connected with so much of it. While I might not have used the exact same language, he makes a lot of really good points. There is so much that we are not prepared for when someone dies;...
You’re going to die. Be prepared.
I regularly read the blog Lifehacker, which is basically a collection of tips for making life easier. A few weeks ago, I came across this article on what you need to do now to prepare for death. As the author observes, none of us likes to think about death. It will...
Where do you keep your estate plan?
Having a properly drafted will and powers of attorney is important. Making sure that your executor and/or beneficiaries know where they are? Almost equally important. Probably at least every other week, every lawyer who is a member of the Simcoe County Law Association...
Different kinds of families
In Ontario, you only have the right to inherit from a parent if you are the biological child or have been legally adopted. Historically, stepchildren have been excluded unless they have been formally adopted. I don’t expect this to change any time soon here, but there...
Tax tips for executors
If you are the executor of an estate, you have very clear and strict rules for filing taxes for the deceased. First, you have to file their final return. This includes all income received up until the date of their death. If the date of death is before October 31, the...
More on passing digital assets
I just returned yesterday from ABA Techshow, which is a big conference every year in Chicago on legal technology and practice management. In light of the tech focus of that week, I thought I would post something tech-related today: New Hampshire has proposed a bill...
Personalty
Moira Visoiu at the Hull & Hull Estate Law Blog posted a really interesting article a while back on dealing with personal property when you are the executor of an estate. She went through a great amount of detail on what you have to do as an executor to protect...