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The term “estate planning” encompasses more than simply writing a Last Will and Testament. A Will is an important aspect of estate planning, but it is only one piece of the puzzle. The act of estate planning is ensuring your affairs are as organized as possible so that on your incapacity or death, your loved ones will be set up as best as possible to tackle the situation.
Depending on how complex your financial and professional situation is, you may require more than just your lawyer. Your accountant, insurance advisor, and financial advisor will also be involved. As tax laws become more confusing and complex, estate planning also becomes more complex.… [Read more]
Best Lawyers’ article “Advice from Canada’s ‘Lawyer of the Year’ Honorees” showcases Erin O’Brien Edmonds’ answer to the question: “If you could give one piece of advice to your younger self at the start of your career, what would it be?”
… [Read more]Practicing law is daunting in the beginning. When you’re starting out, you’ll think everyone knows more than you do—and they probably will. My advice is to take your time, be thorough, and don’t give up. It takes dedication and engagement to be a good lawyer. It is a never-ending battle to stay on top of things. When you feel you have finally arrived, don’t forget where it all started; that’s when it’s your turn to mentor the next generation of lawyers to help them through those difficult early days.
On or before the closing date, your lawyer will send the Buyer’s lawyer the Deed, HST certificate, a Direction regarding the payment of the closing funds in trust, and a Statement of Adjustments describing the amount your lawyer will receive from the Buyer’s lawyer on the closing day, along with any other documentation requested by the Buyers on the Agreement of Purchase and Sale.
The Agreement will have a specific time in which you have to provide “vacant possession”. This is the time in which you will have to leave your home clean, empty, and unoccupied on the closing date and the Buyers will complete a final walk through of the property.… [Read more]
A few days before the closing date your lawyer will want to meet with you in person or by web conference in order to complete your closing documents, including the Deed conveying the property to the Buyer, a certificate confirming there is no HST to be added to the sale price, along with other closing documents.
If your property is a used residential property, one of the closing documents will be an HST certificate, which you will sign certifying that the sale is exempt from HST within the meaning of the Excise Tax Act. If your property falls outside of the exemption this should have been noted in your Agreement and your lawyer will discuss this with you.… [Read more]
If you have agreed to make any repairs resulting from the Buyer’s home inspection, make sure you leave yourself plenty of time to complete them before closing. Be careful to note whether the Agreement specifies if the repairs must be done by a professional and whether receipts are required. Make sure you have arranged movers, planned for cleaning and that all items remaining with the property are in good repair as set out in your Agreement. A week before closing is a good time to re-read your Agreement!
There are other standard items to complete, such as filling up the oil tank or propane tank, grass cutting or snow removal prior to closing and arrange to have your internet and water accounts closed.… [Read more]
Once you have accepted an offer from a Buyer, have your realtor forward the Agreement of Purchase and Sale to your lawyer, and they will begin preparing your sale documents.
The Buyer will have a certain amount of time to arrange satisfactory financing, a home inspection and in certain cases a water and septic test, if there is a well and septic on the property. The condition of the lawyer review of the Agreement will also take place in this time period. Your realtor will update you with any issues raised by the Buyer during condition period. Once the condition date has passed and you have not heard of any issues from your realtor or lawyer, you can consider the sale to be firm.… [Read more]
Once you have decided to list your property for sale, contact your lawyer to let them know. If you owned your property prior to 2004 your property may need to be migrated into the land registration system before the sale. This is an added expense of selling but is required by legislation in Nova Scotia. The earlier your lawyer can get the migration process started, the smoother your sale transaction will go.
It has been a challenging year of change and isolation. Now, more than ever, it is important to check in on the mental health of your friends and loved ones. Start a conversation and end the stigma surrounding mental health. It is time to make your wellness a priority!
Take action and join the world’s biggest #MentalHealth conversation. Each time you watch the official #BellLetsTalk video and for every applicable text, call, or tweet using #BellLetsTalk, Bell will donate 5¢ toward Canadian mental health initiatives. Check out their website to learn more on how you can make a difference https://letstalk.bell.ca/en/.… [Read more]
Arcus Legal congratulates Dianna Burns for joining the Estate Planning Council of Canada, a national association of professionals in the estate planning industry.
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The Nova Scotia SPCA is looking for supporters to contribute to their annual bake sales for wagging tails!
The SPCA shelters do not receive any government funding and with the difficulty of COVID-19, the SPCA is struggling now more than ever.
Anyone can participate and pick a fundraiser of their choosing. Similar to a GoFundMe page, you can share your fundraising page and ask your supporters to donate to a cause you care about.
This year, the top fundraiser/fundraising team will be crowned with naming the next litter of adorable SPCA kittens! If you’re able to do so, donate with our team online at https://www.canadahelps.org/s/AeY88… [Read more]