Estate Planning

Estate planning 101

A reluctance to tackle touchy subjects can prove costly. I remember a long-ago conversation with one of my earliest personal tax clients about aging parents and estate planning. The client — let’s call him Bob — was the only child of a well-to-do couple. Bob had no children of his own, and was relatively well […]

By Michelle Munro |July 6, 2009

5 min read

Business bonanza

Whether it’s because they’ve decided to leave the corporate world to venture out on their own, reenter the business world after taking some time to raise children, or just capitalize on their skills and talents, more and more women are entering the ranks of business owners. According to Statistics Canada, in 2006 women accounted for […]

By Gena Katz |May 29, 2009

3 min read

How to minimize the U.S. estate tax

If you have a client who is married to a United States (U.S.) citizen or a dual citizen, you may need to advise the person to watch out for U.S. estate tax. U.S. estate tax is a wealth transfer tax levied upon death, on the fair market value (irrespective of any accrued gains in value) […]

By Nadja Ibrahim and Christopher Gandhu |May 19, 2009

4 min read

RESPs and estate implications

Registered education savings plans have become the cornerstone for saving for a child’s or grandchild’s post-secondary education. With this increased popularity, you can expect that your clients will more often encounter RESPs during their administration of estates. And because of the larger RESP values, it is more likely that disagreements will arise respecting the administration […]

By Floyd Gradley |May 12, 2009

6 min read