Legal costs are made up of a combination of legal fees plus HST, out-of-pocket disbursements and registration costs. When securing quotes for legal services be sure to ask for all costs and not simply the legal fee. If possible, obtain the fee quote in writing. I provide legal fee quotes upon request.

If you are purchasing, you may have to pay land transfer tax which we can calculate. Land transfer tax is based on a formula related to the purchase price and may be increased if you are buying in certain municipalities, such as Toronto. First-time home buyers may be exempt from paying a portion of their land transfer tax but the criteria in qualifying is a bit complicated so we recommend discussing this with counsel before assuming entitlement to the exemption.

There may be costs charged by your lender associated with your financing, which would include possibly mortgage and bridge loan financing fees. Further, depending upon the extent of your down payment, you may be obliged to pay an insurance fee, provincial sales tax on the insurance fee and possibly other administrative charges or brokerage fees. Be sure to clarify your overall cost with your mortgage lender as well as gain an understanding of the net proceeds being made available to you to use on your purchase.

Yes, there may be adjustments to the purchase price for property taxes or condominium fees, which will be adjusted on closing to the purchase price. We provide you with these adjustments prior to closing. There also may be additional costs on your sale including your commission plus HST, mortgage penalty, etc. You would be prudent to secure an exact calculation of these figures from your real estate agent or mortgage institution prior to committing to the real estate transaction.

We strongly recommend a cohabitation agreement when the parties to a purchase are entering the transaction from vastly different financial positions. Usually, these agreements can be completed quite simply and can be restricted to the investment in the property or extend to other family law related issues.

In addition to the cohabitation agreement identified above, we often suggest that a trust agreement be prepared when a parent has to be placed on the deed to the property in order to qualify for mortgage financing. This provides protection to both parties and avoids the necessity of land transfer tax or potential capital gains issues. The agreement can be completed for a nominal additional fee.

We work closely with our real estate clients, particularly first-time buyers, and provide timely instruction on items that need to be addressed. In particular, you will be expected to arrange your mortgage financing, house insurance and although we arrange for utility services capped with final bills to the seller, we recommend that you contact the utility companies and provide them with your contact information.

Typically, a lawyer is contacted once you have signed the contract to buy or sell the property and all conditions have been removed. However, if you have questions or concerns regarding the negotiation process, do not hesitate to contact your lawyer to receive legal advice prior to signing the Agreement of Purchase and Sale.

While the advice of professionals acting for you is important, we recommend you balance their recommendation with a reference from trusted friends or family members who have gone through the process.

 Yes, there are much different considerations in buying a new property and in particular a new condominium property. In newly constructed properties, your lawyer will be involved at the outset in reviewing the contract for you as there are issues such as adjustments to the purchase price, HST related issues, interim closings, home warranties and potential extended closing dates which needs to be addressed. Our practice is to review the agreement in its entirety and provide a written opinion during the conditional or cooling-off period so that our clients can make an informed decision on acquiring a new property.

When we provide a fee quote, we usually show the title insurance cost as a disbursement. It is a onetime fee for your lifetime of ownership of the property or until such time as you refinance your mortgage. It is an insurance policy that insures both you and your mortgage lender against financial loss against unknown title defects that may otherwise be disclosed in several ways such as an up-to-date survey. While we conduct our due diligence on your behalf, the title insurance policy provides added protection for such items as mortgage fraud and is a much more cost-effective way of handling your purchase transaction when all costs are considered.

Yes, often times children of our elder clients get involved in the sale transaction and facilitate the sale and potential purchase or relocation to a more suitable setting. Often times, a Power Of Attorney for property is utilized to assist a parent in the sale transaction. Care must be taken to carefully document and track the sale proceeds and their eventual deposit or usage on a new purchase.

Lawyers offer more than simply filling in the blanks. In addition to receiving your instructions, we provide counsel on your estate plan, look at your family dynamics and assets, canvass appropriate candidates for executor/attorneys in order that you make a clear and informed decision on your will, powers of attorney and estate plan. Once you have made that decision, a lawyer offers the opportunity to receive your instructions and clearly draft your exact intentions, thus avoiding ambiguity and misinterpretation which could lead to further costs or ill feelings. Further, your lawyer provides integrity to the execution process of your wills and powers of attorney giving added protection against challenge due to issues such as incapacity to sign the documents, provide instructions, or potential undue influence from third parties.

The simple answer is yes. If you are an adult, single or married, living in Ontario and have assets or children or both, you should have a will. The will provides direction as to how you wish your estate managed and disbursed as well as instruction on the guardianship of your children. In the absence of a will, the administration of your assets and their distribution would be unpredictable, lengthy and potentially costly. More importantly, there would be no direction as to how you wish your estate disbursed and it could lead to disputes and acrimony amongst the remaining family members.

If you are separating and have signed a Separation Agreement, that does not necessarily mean you have changed your will even though your separated spouse has released an interest in your estate. While he or she may have released any claims against your estate, you may still inadvertently continue to involve your estranged spouse in your estate plan after separating if you do not change your will, powers of attorney or beneficiary designations under insurance or RRSP plans. While he or she cannot claim an interest in your estate, you can still voluntarily involved your estranged spouse in your estate plan if you do not change it after separating. If you have a will that is not done in contemplation of marriage, the act of marriage voids the will and different statutory rules apply in the absence of a valid will prepared and executed after the date of marriage.

 It starts with a no obligation phone call. I can usually tell after a short conversation whether the preparation of the will and estate plan will be simple or complicated. A few probing questions such as details of your assets, details of family members, their location, etc. will assist in determining whether a more detailed meeting is warranted and will also assist in determining the extent of the overall costs. Typically, costs for less complicated wills and powers of attorney for a husband and wife are on a block fee basis unless you are otherwise advised of an hourly rate.

It is entirely up to you whether you wish the originals or prefer they be left in our care in a file safe on our premises. There is no charge in doing so. They are available upon request.

Powers of Attorney are as important as your will. There are two types of powers of attorney; a power of attorney for property dealing with financial issues and a power of attorney for personal care dealing with health care issues. These documents provide your authority to make financial decisions or healthcare decisions to someone you entrust with these decisions if you are incapable of doing so yourself. We find that they are being relied upon more often by financial institutions and medical facilities. They are an important and powerful document that should be treated and prepared with the same degree of care. We offer the preparation of these documents along with the wills at a competitive block fee rate.

While part of receiving legal counsel on estate planning is to avoid estate tax, transferring assets to children has become a complicated consideration and requires careful review to determine whether it is prudent to do so. Quite often, by trying to avoid modest estate taxes people often create other problematic issues that they didn't consider. A careful review of assets and family dynamics should be conducted before a consideration of transfers to children.

Probate is a term that has now been replaced in Ontario by what is called a Certificate of Appointment of Estate Trustee with a Will. For all intents and purposes, it means the same thing. Basically, probate is the court's endorsement or confirmation that an executor can act on behalf of the deceased parties estate. Quite often, financial assets or real estate can only be transferred out of the deceased name after probate has been obtained from the court. It requires a court application and payment of an estate tax based on the value of the estate. Ordinarily, a lawyer is needed to prepare this application. Thereafter, the executor can use a lawyer for as much or as little as they wish based on their comfort level of administering the balance of the estate. Sometimes minor assets for real property can be transferred without probate which is why the expertise of a lawyer is important.