In an ideal world an employee will quit by providing a two-week notice and at the end of the two weeks will stop working. Sometimes though an employee gets so frustrated and states “I quit” and walks out of the place of the employment. As an employer though one cannot be too quick to accept this as the employee’s resignation. Courts in British Columbia have determined findings of wrongful dismissal when an employer has accepted resignations in the circumstances described above.
Learn more about this topic in another blog post by Anne-Marie
averylawoffice.ca/2023/05/10/quitting-is-not-always-quitting/
Preparing a letter of wishes which is a letter outlining your wishes on various matters such as your children's upbringing, the management of your children's finances, the distribution of your personal property or your funeral intentions and wishes is a great planning tool when used properly. Seek advice on how to prepare a letter of wishes that fits in with your planning goals.
Phone: 778-516-2675
Email: Info@AveryLawOffice.ca
As an employer sometimes you need to fundamentally change an employee’s conditions of working that detrimentally affect an employee.
This can include changing reducing hours of work required or reducing compensation provided.
If fundamental changes are required a new employment contract should be created or an addendum added to the already existing employment contract.
Learn more about this topic in another blog post by Anne-Marie
averylawoffice.ca/2023/05/04/fundamental-changes-require-consideration/
The Employment Standards Act is the main source of legislation that sets out the minimum standards of employment in the province.
However, not every employment arrangement is protected by the act.
Learn more about this topic in another educational blog post by Anne-Marie
averylawoffice.ca/2023/04/29/am-i-covered-by-the-employment-standards-act/
If you thinking about how to protect a gift to a contingent beneficiary, such as protect assets in favour of children, after the death of the first spouse, in the event of remarriage, spend some time learning about mutual wills. A mutual will is a type of will made along with a binding agreement between two or more people, typically spouses, that their estate will be distributed in accordance with their agreement.
This usually means that the legally binding agreement prevents one party from revoking their will without the consent of the other and, if one party dies without revoking the will, the survivor is bound by the terms of the mutual will and cannot change it. The idea is that the mutual will, after the death of the first party, results in the survivor holding the estate assets in trust in favour of the beneficiaries named in a mutual will.
Learn more about wills & estate planning here - averylawoffice.ca/summerland-princeton-law-services/wills-and-estate-planning/
In British Columbia, you may immediately dismiss an employee without severance pay or reasonable notice but only with cause. Courts have determined that for an employer to be able to dismiss with cause the employee must have done something which has created irreversible damage to the employer-employee relationship.
The misconduct of the employee must be so serious that the employment relationship cannot be repaired or continued. Most commonly courts have found theft, sexual harassment, intoxication, and fraud to be worthy of immediate just cause.
Learn more about this topic in another educational blog post by Anne-Marie
averylawoffice.ca/2023/04/26/just-cause/
Protection from discrimination applies in all parts of employment. An employer cannot factor one of the protected grounds in any decision regarding conditions or terms of employment.
This protection from discrimination even extends to protecting an employee from discrimination from fellow employees.
Learn more about this topic in another educational blog post by Anne-Marie
averylawoffice.ca/2023/04/24/discrimination-in-the-workplace/
One of the most important things you can do as an employer to protect your business and ensure fairness in the workplace is to have a written employment contract.
When an employment relationship does not work out having a well-written employment contract can protect your business from court claims.
A well-written employment contract can also help assist if any issues come up regarding the terms of employment including the following:
Hours of employment;
Compensation;
Vacation time;
Notice in the event of termination; and
Duties expected of the employee
Learn more about this topic in another blog post by Anne-Marie
averylawoffice.ca/2023/03/15/the-importance-of-employment-contracts/
As an employer, you do have the right to include a non-competition clause, in British Columbia, as part of offering employment but the clause has to be reasonable. A non-compete clause essentially restricts an employee from activities that cause “competition” with the employer even when the employee is no longer employed. For example, this can include restricting an employee from opening a new business that is the exact same as the previous employer.
Learn more about Non-Competition Clauses in our latest blog post by Anne-Marie
averylawoffice.ca/2023/03/15/non-competition-clauses/
A will-maker can help to protect their digital estate (think emails, digital photos, and online accounts including banking and social media) by creating a memorandum of digital assets in electronic and written form.
Keep it as up-to-date as possible and put it with your will. Don't include usernames and passwords in your will.
Phone: 778-516-2675
Email: Info@AveryLawOffice.ca
Our Princeton location may be closed but don't forget we offer mobile services to Princeton, Tulameen, Hedley & surrounding locations.
We will be closing our physical location in Princeton and offering mobile services effective March 31, 2023. In preparation for our office closure, we will be reducing our office days to 3 days a week, Monday to Wednesday from 8:30am - 4:30pm. We look forward to continuing to serve the surrounding communities with this new mobile experience.
Attorneys appointed under a power of attorney do not have an automatic right to assume an adult's personal offices on incapacity. Such personal offices include the position of a director of a private corporation or trustee of a personal trust. When considering incapacity planning and personal offices, additional planning will be required.
Summerland Office: 778-516-2675
Princeton Office: 250-295-6971
Avery Law Office can assist you with your estate and personal planning. Planning for your death or unexpected events that leave you incapable of handling matters places you in control of the distribution of your assets, care of your children and handling of your affairs. We can assist you with the creation of a will.
Give us a call at either of our locations
Summerland Office: 778-516-2675
Princeton Office: 250-295-6971
If you have been managing a company or starting a company, you may be familiar with the term “corporate minute book”. However, it is easy to forget what a corporate minute book needs to contain and what its purpose is exactly.
To start, a corporate minute book contains all the essential organizational documents pertaining to an
incorporated company. In British Columbia, under the Business Corporations Act, every company must
have a corporate minute book. Under section 42 of the Act, there are specific requirements that must
be met for your corporate minute book to be in good standing.
Check out our blog post to learn more about your corporate minute book - averylawoffice.ca/2021/08/06/the-importance-of-the-corporate-minute-book/
Avery Law Office works with clients handling elder law, wills & estate planning and real estate conveyancing matters from our Summerland & Princeton offices.
Learn more about our services here - averylawoffice.ca/summerland-princeton-law-services/
An executor has 5 broad responsibilites:
- arranging the funeral
- probating the will and locating beneficiaries
- collecting and preserving estate assets
- addressing liabilities including debts & taxes
- claims against the estate, and distributing gifts to the beneficiaries.
Legal assistance may be both beneficial and necessary when navigating an executorship.
It is crucial that an executor determine the liabilities of the deceased. If an executor fails to pay or address liabilities, the executor could face personal liability. Liabilities may include funeral debt, taxes, mortgages, promissory notes, employee loans, and family law claims. An advertisement to notify creditors may assist in avoiding this risk. Chat with your legal professional about addressing estate liabilities.
We truly value our clients and feel blessed by the opportunity to serve each of our clients. We appreciate the kind words of those who take their valuable time to recognize the service we provide.
"I would like to take this opportunity to say that the quality of service offered by Avery Law Office was excellent. Denese helped me understand the intricacies of estate planning for my future and completed my documents quickly, accurately and with great care. The service by Denese and her team was professional yet very friendly and they fulfilled my expectations in all aspects. I highly recommend Avery Law Office." – Diane Owens, British Columbia
Since pets have become to be seen as family members, see your legal advisor to help in this potentially important aspect of estate planning to gain the legal advice needed to make sure a beloved pet is taken care of adequately.
Read the blog post here - averylawoffice.ca/2021/06/08/you-lucky-pet/
If you have young children or grandchildren, consider having a trust provision in your will providing for the funds to be held for your children or grandchildren until they reach a certain age, with flexibility for the trustees to provide income and capital before that age for the benefit of your children or grandchildren or for certain purposes such as education or medical expenses.
B.C. law now permits wills to be remotely witnessed through the use of audiovisual communication technology. If you would like more information about the remote execution of wills you can contact us:
Summerland Office: 778-516-2675
Princeton Office: 250-295-6971
Thank you for voting Avery Law Office a favourite in the 'Best of the South Okanagan' for a lawyer office. We appreciate all of your support!
What is the appropriate age for your children to inherit their estate? Really, there is no magic age, but most work from the assumption that a child should be prepared to handle an inheritance at the time they receive it. This will depend on in part on the size and complexity of the inheritance and in part on the child.
Avery Law Office has been nominated for the Best of the South Okanagan 2021! Please visit their website and vote for us. We'd really appreciate it.
pentictonwesternnews.secondstreetapp.com/Best-of-the-South-Okanagan-2021/
A lot of what we do these days are in the digital realm. We do a lot on our phones, laptops and computers. Think about your email accounts, website or Facebook page. So what happens to our digital assets on death? Many tech companies are struggling with how much information should be shared with the fiduciaries. You should be providing consent in your will to having your executor to your account. For specific platforms allowing access after death, take a look at Facebook's legacy account and Google's Inactive Account Manager.
Deciding who will watch your young children if neither you nor your spouse are alive is very important. If there is no written appointment, a person will have to apply to court to be appointed as your child guardian which means unnecessary delay, uncertainty and expense. Make a plan now and put it in writing to make matters simpler for your children and their caregivers.
Multiple wills is a planning technique used to minimize the probate fees payable upon death. With probate fees in BC of about 1.4% on the fair market value of estate assets, this can be an effective strategy for high net-worth individuals. The idea is to execute two wills, one for assets that may require probate (such as real property and accounts that will not be released by banks with probate) and one for assets that typically do not require probate (such as personal items, privately-held corporate shares and family loans). This is a probate fee minimization strategy worth considering.
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When this happens, it's usually because the owner only shared it with a small group of people, changed who can see it or it's been deleted.The Canada Revenue Agency transfers approximately 600,000 bank account records to the US authorities every year. The IRS has received information on over 1.6 million Canadian bank accounts under the US Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act. Many of the account holders are not necessarily subject to US taxes.