Estate Planning

Get beneficiary designations right

Market uncertainty has pushed retail investors to look for yield rather than returns, which has made fixed income investing expensive and potentially risky.

By Daniel J. Dochylo |September 1, 2011

6 min read

Estate Planning

Inter vivos trusts help minimize tax

Here’s how to use an inter vivos trust (a trust created while the donor is alive to hold property for the benefit of others – usually family members) for income splitting.

By Margaret O’Sullivan |September 1, 2011

4 min read

Estate Planning

Five ways clients can avoid property hassles

Holding property jointly has long been called the “poor man’s will”—a way for a person to transfer wealth on death without spending the money to draw up proper documents. So, if a client is considering transferring property into joint ownership with a spouse or children, play devil’s advocate and explain the risks

By Barry Corbin |September 1, 2011

2 min read

Estate Planning

Will estate taxes come back?

Read: André L’Espérance’s column Increasing estate value for the affluent Will estate taxes come back to Canada? They are certainly in the spotlight. The estate tax debate lurches back and forth in the U.S., as the legacy of the tax package enacted by the Bush administration in 2001 – with a sunset clause allowing the […]

By Scot Blythe |August 15, 2011

4 min read

Combining insurance policies

An insured annuity can be a powerful tool to help business owners maximize retirement income while minimizing tax. This type of annuity involves simultaneously purchasing a life annuity and a life insurance policy.

3 min read

Help clients keep their cottages

Succession planning for the cottage is complex, especially when it’s to be shared by multiple family members who all have an emotional attachment. For many cottage owners, values have increased so significantly that their children may be forced to sell it just to pay capital gains and probate taxes.

By Mike George |August 1, 2011

7 min read

Do’s and don’ts for advising trusts

Reader Alert: This is a follow-up story to ‘Puppet Trustees’ Get a Second Chance. Two lower court rulings in the Garron Family Trust et al. v. The Queen case established central management and control of trust assets, rather than the residence of trustees, as the key test for determining the residence of a trust. That […]

5 min read

Due diligence can prevent estate litigation

Poor choices made by financial planners in connecting their clients to wills and estate lawyers can, and often do, result in lengthy and expensive estate litigation. Solicitor negligence is not something that people like to talk about, but it can be a problem, said Markham-based Andrea Kelly, barrister and solicitor, speaking at the CIFPs’ 9th […]

4 min read

CRA on the prowl

More and more, the Canada Revenue Agency is taking a keen interest in how companies, both small and large, structure their tax planning. And it is asking increasingly intrusive questions—not quite audits, but compelling questionnaires. All of this is the name of the GAAR: the General Anti-Avoidance Rule promulgated some 20 years ago. Still, while […]

By Scot Blythe |June 9, 2011

5 min read