Beard Winter estates and trusts planning group provides overview of Bill 245 in May edition of STEP newsletter

On February 16, 2021, the Government of Ontario introduced the Accelerating Access to Justice Act, 2021, or Bill 245 (“Bill 245”) that received Royal Assent on April 19, 2021. Bill 245 introduces significant changes to various aspects of estates and substitute decision-making law in Ontario, particularly to the Succession Law Reform Act, R.S.O. 1990, c. S.26 (“SRLA”). The legislation aims to continue building on changes already implemented as a response to the Covid-19 pandemic, and to make estate planning and estate administration more accessible, affordable, and efficient for Ontarians.

Key among these changes are permanently implementing the option to sign wills and powers of attorney virtually and in counterpart, changing the amount a parent can accept on behalf of a minor child without guardianship, marriage no longer revoking a will, treating separated spouses similar to divorced spouses for the purposes of estate distribution, and introducing court-validated compliance for testamentary documents.

Read the full article Significant Estates Law Changes are Coming for All Ontarians: An Overview of Bill 245 & Rule Changes for Small Estates authored by Lori Isaj, Lucinda Main and articling student Jessica DeFilippis in the May 2021 edition of the STEP Toronto newsletter.