Consider the following scenario: a farmer spends 40 years building up a property, only for their succession plan to consist of a vague promise and a Will that has not been reviewed since the 90’s! Upon the reading of that Will, siblings who have had limited contact find themselves locked in litigation over who is entitled to the homestead, who receives the outlying land, and whether a handshake deal made decades earlier gives rise to any enforceable rights. This is the realit

Testamentary trusts, tax reform and the human side of estate planning for a structure that only comes to life after death, testamentary trusts have been having a surprisingly lively moment. Thanks to the recent debate around the taxation of discretionary trusts, they’ve been pulled out of the legal cupboard, dusted off, and discussed everywhere from boardrooms to dinner tables - with, I suspect, more than a few estate planning lawyers on speed dial, fielding calls from unders