Tax, Legal & TRESA

You Sold the Estate’s House as Executor — Can You Pay Yourself? Ontario Estate Trustee Compensation, and Why the “5% Rule” Isn’t Law

Named as the estate trustee, you sold the family home and spent months settling the estate — are you allowed to pay yourself, and how much? Yes: Ontario’s Trustee Act, s.61(1), entitles an estate trustee to a “fair and reasonable” allowance, fixed by a Superior Court judge. The catch most people miss: the famous “5%” (2.5% in, 2.5% out) is not a statutory rate — it is a courtroom convention judges have built over decades, then dial up or down against five factors. Broker Arthur Zhao breaks down the legal basis, how the house sale feeds the math, who signs off, whether it is taxed, and the one move that spares your family a fight. Educational content, not legal or tax advice.

Can Your Agent Buy the House You Are Selling? What Ontario Law Entitles You to First

In Ontario, an agent can buy a home they are listing, or have a relative or numbered company do it — but only once TRESA section 32 is met: written notice to every other party, plus their written acknowledgment of receipt. The notice must fully disclose every fact affecting the home’s value, and any resale the agent already has lined up. Broker Arthur Zhao explains what you are owed, why acknowledging receipt is not agreeing to the price, and why to get independent legal advice.

Passing the Family Farm to Your Kids in Ontario: The Land Transfer Tax Break Is Real — and Narrower Than “Family” Suggests

Thinking of handing your Ontario farm to your kids tax-free? The land transfer tax exemption under Regulation 697 is real — but a field you have cash-rented to a neighbour may not count as “farming” at all, which can sink the claim before it starts. It waives only the provincial tax; the transfer’s principal purpose must be to keep farming rather than sell and subdivide; routing it through a family farm corporation adds a 95% farming-assets test; and Form 013-1205 must be filed. Broker Arthur Zhao maps out who actually qualifies.

Leaving a Home or Inheritance to a Disabled Child on ODSP: The Henson Trust and the $100,000 Ceiling

Worried that leaving a home or savings to an adult child on ODSP will end their benefits? Broker Arthur Zhao explains why it usually won't — if you get two things right. First, a home the child lives in is already an exempt asset (O. Reg. 222/98 s.28(1)), so the real issue is cash against a $40,000 limit. Second, how a trustee spends matters as much as how money is held: paying disability-related bills directly is uncapped and income-exempt (s.43(1) para 9), while cash to the beneficiary is limited to $10,000 per 12 months (para 13). A fully discretionary Henson trust escapes the $100,000 trust ceiling (s.28(3)); an RDSP adds an uncapped exempt layer. Must be drafted by a licensed lawyer.

You Rented Out Your Basement. Will You Owe Capital Gains Tax When You Sell?

Thinking of claiming CCA on your rented basement to shave a little tax off this year's return? It can retroactively tax years of gain you would otherwise have kept tax-free. Broker Arthur Zhao unpacks CRA Folio S1-F3-C2 on renting out part of an Ontario home: the outcome hinges on structural change and CCA, not square footage — renting a room usually preserves your full principal residence exemption, while walling off a self-contained suite can trigger a partial deemed disposition. Covers the CRA-practice-vs-statute line, the 2019 partial-change 45(2) election, principal-residence reporting since 2016, and why Ontario stacks on no separate rule. Confirm your own facts with a licensed accountant.

Buying Again After a Divorce: The HBP Has a Marriage-Breakdown Rule, the FHSA Does Not

After a separation you may fund one down payment from two pots — an RRSP through the Home Buyers’ Plan, and an FHSA — yet each account applies a completely different eligibility test, and a divorce moves only one of them. The HBP was written with a relationship breakdown in mind: Income Tax Act s.146.01(2.1) can deem you not to have owned a home. The FHSA (s.146.6) has no such clause — a separation only drops your ex’s property from its test, never a home you owned yourself. Toronto broker Arthur Zhao maps which clause moves which clock, and where the two do not line up. General information, not tax advice.

Died Without a Will in Ontario: Who Inherits the House, and Who Can Actually Sell It

The house is registered in one person’s name, they have died, and there is no will — so who inherits it, in what shares, and who is legally allowed to sell it? Toronto broker Arthur Zhao walks through Ontario’s intestacy rules under the Succession Law Reform Act: the spouse takes a $350,000 preferential share first, then the remainder splits by number of children (one child, spouse takes half; two or more, a third). It clears up the two figures people get wrong — the share is pegged to the date of death, not the filing date, and the split is on the estate’s net value, not the home’s market price — and two things secondary sources miss: only a married spouse inherits on intestacy (a common-law partner’s route is dependant support, not inheritance), and a separated spouse no longer inherits since 2021. General legal information, not legal advice — consult an Ontario estates lawyer for your own situation.

Which School Board Does Your Property Support by Default? Ontario School Support Designation, Explained for Owners and Renters

That school board printed on your Ontario property tax bill or your municipal voter card? If you never picked one, it was chosen for you — the default is English-Public. Toronto broker Arthur Zhao breaks down your School Support Designation: it steers your vote (which voters list you land on, which school-board trustee election you can cast a ballot in), not your tax total (education rates are set province-wide by the Minister of Finance under Ontario Regulation 400/98). Heads up on timing: the June 1, 2026 update deadline is already behind us, so a change now is logged by MPAC but skips the Preliminary List of Electors unless you forward MPAC’s confirmation email to your municipality. Vote day: October 26, 2026. Verified 2026-08-12 against MPAC and ontario.ca.