YOU’VE GOT LEGAL QUESTIONS. WE’VE GOT ANSWERS.

As soon as possible. You’ll want a real estate lawyer in your corner before you sign the Agreement of Purchase and Sale. You want someone qualified to review the agreement to ensure the clauses and conditions are in your best interests. If you’ve already signed it, we can help you become familiar with your rights, obligations, and specifications of the contract that need to be completed before the sale is finalized.

When you buy land in Ontario, you pay a certain amount of provincial tax based on the land value. First - time homebuyers may be able to get a full or partial refund on your land transfer tax.

Legally, no, but there are many benefits to working with a good real estate agent. They’ll help you find suitable properties or buyers, avoid common pitfalls, and do the time - heavy groundwork.

We’ll help you avoid the sticker shock that comes with buying a new home. Some of these additional fees include legal fees, home inspection fees, insurance, taxes, and other unexpected costs associated with the price, location, or condition of your property. We’ll review all these costs with you so you can budget accordingly.

The most common structures for business in Ontario are sole proprietorship, a partnership, joint venture and a corporation. The structure that’s right for you depends on a number of factors, including business type, size, and plans to scale among others.

If your business only involves yourself and doesn’t involve others (except perhaps employees), you’re likely suited for a sole proprietorship. This is the simplest form of structuring business in Ontario and has the fewest legal requirements. All profits flow directly to the owner; however, the owner is also fully liable for all debts of the business. The profits are also taxed at higher individual tax rates than other structures.

If you come together with one or more individuals or corporations with a common profit objective, then you’ll be considered a partnership. There are two types of partnerships in Ontario – limited partnership and general partnership. In general partnership, each partner has unlimited liability for the debts and obligations of the partnership. This is the most common type of partnership. A limited partnership is made up of at least one general partner and unlimited limited partners. The general partners, who manage the business, are liable to an unlimited extent for the debts and obligations of the business. This type of partnership must be declared under the Ontario Limited Partnership Act to be recognized by law.

A corporation is a legal entity which is separate from its owners (shareholders). A corporation is considered a legal person and may own property, carry on business, have rights and incur its own liabilities. The owners are not personally responsible for liabilities. The corporation pays tax at lower income rates than the individual tax rates. While this is a very attractive and the most common business structure, there are also costs to incorporating and maintaining incorporation to consider.

A will is a written document outlining how a person wants his or her assets distributed after his or her death. In Ontario, there are very strict rules about the execution of the will – how it should be signed, how many witnesses are required, and who can or can’t be witnesses.

A “living will” is refers to a document outlining what you want to happen if you become ill and can’t communicate your wishes about treatment. This will doesn’t hold any power after death.

Not quite. A Power of Attorney is a legal document that outlines the person you want to act on your behalf if you happen to become ill and can’t communicate your wishes about treatment. It impacts decisions during end-of-life care, not what happens after death.

The first step is contacting the Superior Court of Justice where your family member lived when they died. The court should be able to name the person who was appointed estate trustee. From there, you would contact the estate trustee. If you don’t receive a response from the estate trustee or if you’re not content with their response, you can hire a lawyer to help you.