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What is Mine Might Not be Yours: Estate Planning for Blended Families
Post-divorce, many Canadians are lucky enough to find second relationships, whether it is cohabiting leading to a common law partnership or another trip down the aisle. According to a 2011 census data release by Statistics Canada, blended families (where one or both spouses have children from previous relationships) have become a national norm, representing about one in eight couples’ families with children. This blog takes a closer look at the type of estate planning issues that blended families can face. As new relationships are formed with the new spouse’s family, estate planning becomes more complicated and steps must be taken to ensure that your intentions to protect your children from the prior marriage and/or for your new spouse to be protected upon your death, and that your estate will ultimately be distributed to the intended beneficiaries. […]
Your Secret is Out – How Many Days Have You Spent in the US?
We have written a number of blogs on the topic of how many days you can spend in the US, but come June 30, 2014 a new initiative will be kicked into high gear in order to track your movement across the Canada/US border. Calculating Your Days in the United States Snowbirds have tried to get around this issue by pleading ignorance or simply believing that the US had no way of actually knowing how many days they were present within their borders, and maybe they were right. Under today’s system, both Canada and the US keep track of the day you enter the country, but not when you leave and neither country is in the habit of sharing this information with each other. However, none of this actually means that snowbirds are exempt from the rules. In fact, the implications of surpassing the number of days allowed in the US comes with dyer tax, estate, immigration and medical coverage issues. These issues have all been discussed in great detail in the past, however it is worth taking a brief moment to recap the rules. […]
Financial Post – Border shakeup could have tax consequences for snowbirds
Matt C. Altro was recently interviewed by Julius Melnitzer for an article which appeared in the Financial Post section of the National Post. In the article, Matt addresses the changes that will allow Canada and the US to accurately track the number of days spent by Canadians in each country, to ensure that the tax and immigration laws are being respected. The article can be found below or at this link and includes information on the number of days Canadians may spend in the US. […]
Planning for Disabled Beneficiaries in Ontario
Planning for Disabled Beneficiaries in Ontario By Heela Donsky Walker February 18, 2014 Whether you own Cross-Border assets or not, when dealing with the transfer of assets to [...]
Advisor.ca – FATCA squeezes American clients
Matt C. Altro was recently interviewed for an article which appeared on Advisor.ca. In the article, Matt addresses what US citizens living in Canada should do in light of FATCA if they have RRSPs. The [...]
Advisor’s Edge – How to deal with a cross-border estate
David A. Altro was recently interviewed for an article which appeared on Advisor.ca and in the Advisor's Edge magazine. In the article, David explains some estate planning tools for Canadians who have U.S. assets and [...]
Tax Efficient Estate Planning through Wills
Apart from any other estate planning measures one might choose to implement, there is always a role for a well-planned will. However, the content of those wills depends on whether one or both spouses are [...]
Wealth Professional – U.S. clients aren’t in the clear, warns Toronto advisor
Wealth Professional - U.S. clients aren't in the clear, warns Toronto advisor By Matt C. Altro February 11, 2014 Matt C. Altro was recently interviewed for a a [...]
Advisor.ca – Tax benefits of an estate freeze
David A. Altro and Jonah Z. Spiegelman recently co-authored an article which appeared on Advisor.ca and is scheduled to appear in the March or April 2014 edition of Advisor’s Edge magazine. In the article, [...]
Montreal Gazette – Loonie drives new buying strategies for Florida homes
David A. Altro, Managing Partner at Altro LLP, was recently interviewed for an article which has appeared in the Montreal Gazette newspaper. In the article, David explains some of the buying trends that Altro LLP [...]