Wills, Trusts & Estates
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March 04, 2025
Canada hits U.S. with counter-tariffs, vows support for workers, businesses hurt by Trump trade war
Canadians must unite to fight back against the “very dumb” tariffs U.S. president Donald Trump has imposed under the “bogus” pretext of stopping fentanyl from entering the U.S. through Canada’s southern border, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said in announcing retaliatory tariffs and pledging to provide federal support for hard-hit workers and businesses, as well as to legally pursue trade remedies, if “unwarranted and unreasonable” U.S. tariffs last longer than “a few hours or a few days.”
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March 03, 2025
NWT law society rolls out professional conduct ‘guidelines’ for lawyers' use of generative AI
The Law Society of the Northwest Territories has issued, for the first time, “Guidelines for the Use of Generative AI in the Practice of Law,” following a similar move by several Canadian legal regulators that have provided AI-specific guidance for lawyers’ professional conduct and practice over the past year.
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February 28, 2025
SCC rules Métis Nation’s pursuit of overlapping lawsuits against Saskatchewan not abuse of process
The Supreme Court of Canada has affirmed 9-0 that a legal challenge by the Métis Nation–Saskatchewan to provincial permits that allow a company to explore for uranium on land to which the Métis claim Aboriginal title in Saskatchewan is not an abuse of process and may go ahead, notwithstanding that the Métis have also launched other lawsuits involving similar issues against the province.
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February 28, 2025
What is the meaning of ‘spouse’? Federal Court of Appeal provides clarity
The definition of “spouse” for the purposes of s. 160 is clarified by the Federal Court of Appeal in Enns v. Canada, 2025 FCA 14.
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February 28, 2025
Attorney for property: Making gifts on behalf of a grantor
Powers of attorney for property are crucial tools for individuals who may become incapable of managing their property and financial affairs. In Ontario, as in other jurisdictions, a power of attorney for property grants the power for one or more people (the “attorney(s)”) to act on behalf of the person granting the power (the “grantor”).
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February 27, 2025
IRCC unveils Express Entry category draws for economic immigration, plans more in-Canada draws
Immigration Minister Marc Miller has announced the 2025 Express Entry categories, which include a new education category, with the aim of better aligning the selection of federal economic immigrants with Canada’s long-term labour shortages.
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February 26, 2025
SCC halts use of its ‘X’ account ‘for now,’ citing ‘strategic priorities and resource allocation’
In a move that has sparked controversy in Canada and beyond, the Supreme Court of Canada tells Law360 Canada that “for now” it will no longer use its official account on X, the social media platform owned by Elon Musk, a high-profile billionaire associate of U.S. President Donald Trump.
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February 26, 2025
Balancing testator autonomy and dependent rights in B.C. estate law
In British Columbia, the Wills, Estates and Succession Act addresses a broad range of issues critical to estate planning, administration, and beneficiary rights. One significant concern in the Act is the balancing the rights of a testator to dispose of their estate as they see fit with the rights of dependent spouses and children to a fair portion of their loved one’s estate. Achieving that balance requires consideration of numerous factors, including a testator’s capacity to make a valid will, any suspicious circumstances surrounding its creation, and a legal dependent’s right to financial support.
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February 26, 2025
Women & 2SLGBTQI+ applicants came out ahead as ‘highly recommended’ for federal benches in 2023-2024
Asserting his new administration is “ending illegal discrimination and restoring merit-based opportunity,” U.S. President Donald Trump recently issued controversial executive orders banning diversity, equity and inclusion policies and hiring at the federal level in America. But in Canada, the most recent demographic statistics on federal judicial appointments and the professional competence and character assessments made by the Trudeau government’s non-partisan judicial advisory committees (JACs) indicate that diversity has gone hand in hand with “merit.”
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February 24, 2025
Get it in writing: Documenting a gifted right of survivorship
With the Supreme Court’s decision in Pecore v. Pecore, 2007 SCC 17 (Pecore), it became clear that joint tenants can have different types of beneficial interests in property. Not only is it possible to hold a full beneficial interest in the property, but a joint tenant may also hold only a right of survivorship, in which case all beneficial interest in the property is held in trust for the other joint tenant until that other tenant passes away.