The following is a roundup of noteworthy articles published this month on estate litigation and related issues:
- CBC published an article on the changes to the Wills, Estates and Succession Act to allow for the digital execution of wills: https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/make-a-will-in-2022-1.6287279
- There were a number of articles published on the treatment of digital assets upon death:
- Lindsay Histrop and Parish Bhumgara at Gardiner Roberts LLP (in Toronto) consider this issue in detail and identify particular digital assets which may be at issue: https://www.grllp.com/blog/Treatment-of-Digital-Assets-on-Death-310
- Daniel Paperny at WEL Partners (Toronto) talks about steps taken by Apple to address this issue: https://welpartners.com/blog/2021/12/apple-takes-digital-estate-planning-into-its-own-hands/
- Kimberly Whaley and Ian Hull (WEL Partners and Hull & Hull LLP respectively) presented on this issue, and the link to their presentation materials can be found here: https://welpartners.com/blog/2021/12/presentation-materials-canadian-lawyer-webinar-keeping-pace-with-digital-assets/
- Nick Esterbaur at Hull & Hull LLP (in Ontario) discusses a recent Supreme Court of Canada decision on the limitations of confidentiality in mediation: https://hullandhull.com/2021/12/the-supreme-court-reviews-limitations-of-mediation-confidentiality/
- Tyler Lin at de Vries Litigation LLP (in Ontario) discusses testamentary trusts for pets: https://devrieslitigation.com/can-pets-inherit-million-dollar-trusts/
- Janis Ko at Onyx Law discusses the issue of costs in contentious estate litigation, with reference to a B.C. Court of Appeal decision: https://onyxlaw.ca/court-clarifies-costs-of-estate-litigation-in-complex-family-dispute/
Happy reading and Happy New Year!