If you are asked by a friend or a family member to lend him or her some money, you would be well advised to think carefully before saying “yes”.  If you say “no”, it may cause a strain in your relationship but that strain will not be anything like what will happen if the borrower can’t or won’t repay the loan.

If you decide to lend some money, make sure that the terms of the loan are clearly understood and put on paper. The borrower should be required to sign a Promissory Note specifying the amount borrowed, what interest is payable, and when the amount borrowed will be repaid. The borrower should sign the Promissory Note and it is wise to have a third party witness his or her signature.  If you advance the money by way of a cheque, make a note on the face of the cheque that it is a loan.  That will prevent the borrower from saying at some future date that it was a gift.

Make sure that the borrower lives up to the agreed terms. If the borrower seeks an extension of time to pay, make sure that you put down on paper whatever extended terms are agreed upon with both of you signing to confirm the amended terms.

Remember that if the borrower fails to pay, you have a maximum of two years from the due date of the loan to start Court proceedings.  If you miss that two year limitation, you won’t be able to ask the Courts to help you collect.

Finally, if you want to give a gift, it is equally important that you document your intentions.  See this previous post and this previous post for the problems that can arise from gifting without proper documentation.

If you have established a Registered Education Savings Plan (RESP) for your children, grandchildren, nieces, nephews or any other person or persons, you are known as the “Subscriber” to the Plan.  As long as you are alive, you have the right to decide how the Plan is administered, who payments are made to, and whether or not the Plan should be wound-up.  Unfortunately, on your death, your Estate Trustee does not automatically become a “Succeeding Subscriber” to the RESP with the result that your plans for the RESP may not be realized.

There are a couple of solutions to this problem.  One solution is to name a co-Subscriber while you are alive. That is a two-step process as you must first make arrangements with the institution managing the RESP to add the name of the second person to the Plan. The second step – and this essential – is that the named co-Subscriber must then make a contribution to the RESP. That contribution can be at little as $100 but it must be made from the individual’s personal bank account. Read the rest of this entry »

In June, 1999, Mills & Mills began providing legal services for members of the Pre-paid Legal Services Plan in Ontario.  We are proud of and committed to our long-standing relationship with PPL and to providing excellent service to all of its members.

Today, we are deilghted to announce that one of our lawyers, Alphonso DiMarco, opened the 200,000th intake for PPL members served by our firm!

In a novel decision handed down June 4 this year by Mr. Justice Gaston Jorre of the Tax Court of Canada, a small exception (small but very valuable to our client) has been created to the general wisdom that the CRA has no due diligence obligations in enforcing its debts. The case of David A. Barrett v. Her Majesty the Queen was successfully argued by Peter D. Stephens of our firm.

 It has been established law for years that the CRA can take as long as it wants to enforce taxpayers’ debts as long as no time limit set down in the Act is breached. The only remedy for delay is an application to Federal Court for a mandamus order compelling the government to get on with it, not necessarily what the tax debtor is looking for.

When our client came to us asking for help with a tax appeal, the prospects at first looked bleak.   Read the rest of this entry »

Effective August 3, 2010, there is now a provision in the HTA (Regulation 163/10) for the suspended driver to apply to the Registrar to reinstate a license prior to the end of the suspension period. Section 259 of the Criminal Code allows the Judge to make an order allowing the offender to apply to the Ministry of Transport (MOT) in Ontario to register in an “alcohol ignition interlock device program” (the program); and, if so registered, receive his/her license earlier than the minimum prohibition period(s) after sentence is imposed. Upon acceptance into the program, he/she must install the Alcohol Ignition Interlock Device (the device) (within 30 days by an authorized person) in his/her car at his/her expense. Read the rest of this entry »