Testamentary Capacity – Who Can Make a Will

For over a century, the question of whether a person has the legal capacity to make a will, can be determined according to the test originally set out in the leading case of Banks v. Goodfellow (1870). That…

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“Cooling Off” BC Real Estate

To better protect consumers in British Columbia’s real estate market, the Government of British Columbia is introducing legislation that requires “cooling off periods” for resale properties and newly built homes. This change will be similar to the cooling…

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Land Owner Transparency Registry – Filing Deadline Extended

The deadline for pre-existing “reporting bodies” (a relevant corporation, a trustee of a relevant trust, or a relevant partnership who acquired an "interest in land" prior to November 30, 2020 and continues to own an interest) to file…

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Electronic Wills

The British Columbia Government has introduced legislation to enable courts to accept electronic wills and to permit the remote witnessing of wills.

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Landowners – Requirement to file documents in the Land Owner Transparency Registry (LOTR)

Effective November 30, 2020, the Land Owner Transparency Act (British Columbia) (“LOTA”) came into force, introducing certain disclosure obligations regarding beneficial ownership of land in British Columbia.

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Charity Law Update

Many of our clients operate or are involved in the administration of charitable entities, registered with the Charities Directorate of Canada Revenue Agency.  From time to time, we update our clients and those involved in the operation and…

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Estate Planning – It’s All in the Detail

In August of this year, a Supreme Court of British Columbia case determined that showing true testamentary intention and compliance with Wills, Estate and Succession Act requirements, are equally important steps of a valid and enforceable estate plan.

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BC Foreign Buyer’s Tax is Constitutional

On July 5th, 2021, the British Columbia Court of Appeal ruled that the province’s foreign buyer’s tax is constitutional.

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Why You Need a Will

When a person in British Columbia dies without a will, that person is said to have died “intestate.” When a person dies leaving a will that does not fully dispose of the estate, and the part that is…

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Taxation – “Unproductive Use” of Canadian Housing by Foreign Non-resident Owners

The 2021 Federal budget proposes to introduce a new national one percent (1.00%) tax on the value of non-resident, non-Canadian owned residential real estate property considered to be vacant or underused. The tax applies to owners other than…

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