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Estate litigation lawyers across Canada are seeing a steady increase in undue influence estate disputes. Families are more frequently questioning whether a will truly reflects a loved one’s wishes or whether someone exerted pressure behind the scenes. 23 Mar
  • by Estates Gone Wrong
  • Curated Content, Family Disputes

Steady Increase in Undue Influence Estate Disputes in Canada

While courts are generally reluctant to interfere with a testator’s choice of estate trustee, that choice will be overridden where it is necessary to ensure the proper, efficient, and impartial administration of the estate. 23 Mar
  • by Estates Gone Wrong
  • Curated Content, Family Disputes

Feuding Siblings Replaced By Neutral Third-Party Estate Trustee

Whether you own a cottage, a family home, or any other high-value asset, working with an experienced estate lawyer to craft clear, specific, and regularly updated instructions is not just good practice — it is essential. 22 Mar
  • by Estates Gone Wrong
  • Curated Content, Property Pitfalls

Why Cottage Estates Are a Breeding Ground for Family Conflict

Families rarely plan for capacity disputes. They emerge in real time. Disputes often grow when families assume capacity is global. However, capacity is decision-specific. It is not a single, permanent label. 20 Mar
  • by Estates Gone Wrong
  • Curated Content, Guardian Safeguards

Decision Making & Older Adults: Capacity Disputes in Ontario

When valid, no contest clauses can be a powerful tool for discouraging estate litigation. Typically, these clauses threaten to disinherit beneficiaries who challenge the validity of the testator’s final will... 18 Mar
  • by Estates Gone Wrong
  • Curated Content, Frequently Asked Questions

Can a Beneficiary Be Disinherited Over a Successful Litigation?

Estate planning becomes more complicated when assets, citizenship and tax rules extend beyond a single country. In this episode of Celebrity Estates, David Lenok speaks with Martin Behn about these challenges. 16 Mar
  • by Estates Gone Wrong
  • Celebrity Estates, Curated Content

Celebrity Estates Podcast: Cross-Border Planning Lessons

Estate law remains deeply jurisdiction-specific. How the law will recognize family relationships can easily differ across provincial lines. If you intend for someone to benefit from your estate, that intention must be expressed clearly. 13 Mar
  • by Estates Gone Wrong
  • Curated Content, Legacy Lexicon

Jurisdiction Matters: What Makes You a ‘Child’ in an Estate?

If you have minor children, not having a Will in Quebec is not just unfortunate— it's a failure of planning: a recurring and avoidable mess. 12 Mar
  • by Estates Gone Wrong
  • Curated Content, Related Resources

Québec: Why You Need a Will to Protect Your Minor Children

Family Business Succession: Entrepreneurs can plan for future generational transitions by implementing a corporation governance framework. 10 Mar
  • by Estates Gone Wrong
  • Curated Content, Succession Lessons

Family Business: Planning for Future Generational Transitions

One of the most common misconceptions in Canadian financial planning is that you can “leave it all to the kids” without the government taking a cut. 10 Mar
  • by Estates Gone Wrong
  • Curated Content, Tax-Smart Strategies

Strategies to Minimize Estate Taxes in Canada

"Some businesses remain in the family. Others do not. Business owners might muse about succession within the family unit. However, musings do not always give rise to enforceable promises." 04 Mar
  • by Estates Gone Wrong
  • Curated Content, Succession Lessons

Succession Planning for a Family Business Can Be Tricky

New Study Finds "Women Are Trusted Most" to Manage Crises and Estates in Canada 03 Mar
  • by Estates Gone Wrong
  • Curated Content, Related Resources

Critical Life Decisions: Women Trusted Most

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Long-Term Care (LTC) is expensive, unpredictable and often prolonged. The projected “great wealth transfer” may therefore become far more concentrated among families who are wealthy enough to absorb years of care costs without exhausting their assets.

US Long-Term Care Costs ‘Eating into’ Family Wealth

Have Canadian boomers saved enough for retirement? It doesn't seem like it... And the numbers suggest this isn’t just a handful of unlucky families. It’s a structural problem with how an entire generation approached retirement.

Why Canadian Kids Are Bailing Out Boomer Parents

A handshake promise to leave the family farm can legally override a written will in New South Wales. The legal mechanism is equitable estoppel, and courts have enforced it in farm succession disputes where the evidence is strong enough.

NSW Inheritance Law: Can a Verbal Promise Override a Will?

Washington Post analysis finds that the "great wealth transfer" narrative is largely a story about the very top of the income distribution. For many in the middle, retirement savings are being consumed by care costs, not passed on.

Cost of Eldercare Obliterating Expected Inheritance

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