Series continues with focus on estate, trust, capacity law
Hull & Hull LLP continues its ongoing breakfast series this month with an event focusing on estate, trust and capacity law.
With presentations from Hull & Hull LLP partners Ian Hull, Paul Trudelle and David Morgan Smith, participants can attend the breakfast in person or via webcast.
Smith’s presentation is called “Due Execution Reconsidered” and will discuss problems that can arise when lawyers are not able to be present when a will is executed.
Smith says lawyers must exercise a certain standard of care when dealing with the formalities of execution, particularly when they cannot be present as a witness.
“This topic is important because an improperly executed will cannot be valid,” he says. “The talk will focus on how to best ensure that the lawyer meets the standard of care.”
Trudelle is scheduled to speak on severing joint tenancies.
“Whether a joint tenancy of real property is severed has a significant impact on how the asset is dealt with: whether it passes through the deceased’s estate to his or her beneficiaries, or whether it passes to the joint owner,” Trudelle says. “I will be dealing with the different ways that a joint tenancy may be severed, and focus on the recent Court of Appeal case of Hansen Estate v. Hansen, which discusses severance by a ‘course of dealing.’”
Hull’s topic, fiduciary accounting, will warn of the types of typical objections executors should watch for.
“I will be talking about some recent changes to the rules in regard to passing of accounts,” Hull says. “The focus will be on avoiding problems when preparing a set of fiduciary accounts and how to prevent issues from arising.”
A fiduciary account is a savings or deposit account whose funds are owned by one person but managed by another for the owner or beneficiary’s benefit.
The Hull & Hull LLP Estate, Trust and Capacity Law Breakfast Series runs Oct. 18 with breakfast at 8:15 a.m., presentations at 8:30 a.m. and questions and answers from 9:30 to 10:15 a.m. It takes place at the Ontario Bar Association, second floor, 20 Toronto St., salons 2 and 3. To register, contact Sarah Koslicki at 416-369-1140 (press 0) or visit www.hullandhull.com to obtain a form.
