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Income tax — trust for disabled child

My clients were parents of a child who had been seriously injured in an accident and would need constant care for the rest of his life. The child was receiving a large insurance settlement, which the Ontario Children's Lawyer suggested be put into a "structured settlement" annuity paid by an insurance company. My clients felt that having the funds in a trust would provide a better return than a structured settlement. But the Court did not want to approve a settlement involving a trust, because of questions raised as to whether the tax consequences would be as good as with a structured settlement.

I applied for and obtained a ruling from Revenue Canada, confirming that the income from the trust would be exempt for many years. This took extensive discussions and correspondence, as the rulings officials originally thought that this case did not fit the technical wording of the Income Tax Act. Eventually I convinced them otherwise.

My clients were eventually able to get a combination of a trust and a structured settlement approved by the Court.

(1997)