Who Gets the House in a Divorce in Ontario?
If you are legally married but in the midst of separating or divorcing, then your family home is likely the most valuable asset you own – and perhaps also the one you feel most emotional about. But the treatment of the matrimonial home in a divorce is one of the most misunderstood aspects of Ontario Family law. At our Firm, we hear a lot of wrong assumptions and misconceptions from our...
Estate Planning After Divorce: What You Need to Know
Divorce is a life-changing event. It impacts your finances, your family relationships, and your social connections. It also derails the careful future plans you may have made with – and for – your spouse. One area that often gets overlooked in a divorce process, is estate planning. In this Blog, we’ll explore why post-divorce estate planning is critical, explain how Ontario law affects...
Divorce and Owning Foreign Assets
Property division is often the most contentious and complicated part of a divorce. Owning foreign assets can further exacerbate the toughness involved in valuing the marital estate and fairly dividing assets due to any of the following: Foreign countries may not enforce Canadian court orders. Foreign assets are subject to the taxes and laws of that country. Valuing foreign assets may take...
Separating Finances During a Divorce: How to Protect Family Inheritances
The average Canadian receives just under $100,000 from inheritances. That’s a good chunk of money that can go towards renovating the marital home or paying off debts. Depending on how the inheritance was used during the marriage, couples may disagree on how the asset should be divided during the divorce. Those who inherited money or assets may be at risk of losing a portion of it to...
Trust issues and NFP
If a person has an interest in a Trust does it form part of their NFP? To recap, 1n 1994, John White did an estate freeze. The result of the freeze was that he held $300,001 Class A preferred shares, with a fixed value of $1.00 each, in John White Family Holdings Ltd., and the John and Ann White Family Trust held ten common shares in Holdings. Holdings, in turn, held 100 common shares of the...
Inclusion of Common Shares in NFP as a result of an Estate Freeze
If a person owns preferred shares in a holding company, which owns a trust, does the entire value of the Trust form part of that person’s NFP? (1) Should the entire date-of-separation value of White Holdings (“the Corporation”), a corporation of which your client, Mr. White, holds the preferred shares, be included in your client’s NFP; and (2) Is your client entitled to credit for overpayment...