Do I Need a Vaccine Policy for my Nova Scotia Business?

Do I Need a Vaccine Policy for my Nova Scotia Business?

On October 6th Premier Houston announced that all Nova Scotia Public Servants must be vaccinated by November 30th. Premier Houston followed this announcement by urging private businesses to create their own vaccine mandates.

After these recent announcements on vaccine mandates you may wonder if your business needs a vaccine policy.

All businesses are different and there is not be a “one size fits all” policy that works for every business.

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Nova Scotia’s Statute of Limitations: What if I’m out of time?

Nova Scotia’s Statute of Limitations: What if I’m out of time?

In Nova Scotia there exist time limits that decide if you can, or cannot bring your claim forward. These time periods are covered by the Limitations of Actions Act. A simple way to visualize these limitations periods are as a timer ticking down. The timer can be extended or paused, but it will still eventually run out.

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How to Not Get Sued When You Terminate an Employee

How to Not Get Sued When You Terminate an Employee

You have an employee who has been with you for a number of years and it is time to let them go. They haven’t done anything egregious, but they aren’t a great employee and your corporate cash flow tells you its time to reduce staffing costs.

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Don't Fall into the Trap of a Bad Closing Day

Don't Fall into the Trap of a Bad Closing Day

Moving can be exciting, but can also be a stressful time. What day your closing date falls on can contribute to how smoothly the transaction goes. There are a lot of moving parts on closing day, and it’s better to be safe than sorry if something pops up that causes a delay. Potential issues could be, a delay in funds from your bank, a contentious issue on the walk-through etc.

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Do I Need to Probate my Estate?

Do I Need to Probate my Estate?

Your loved one has passed away and you now have to figure out how to handle their affairs. When a person has died, all of the assets that belong to them at the time of death is called their “estate”.

In some cases, if there is a Will, the executor can simply read through the Will and distribute the contents of the estate as outlined in the Will. In some cases, even if there is no Will, a friend or family member can organize and distribute the estate to the next of kin.

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Nova Scotia Family Law Court Orders Aren’t Set in Stone

Nova Scotia Family Law Court Orders Aren’t Set in Stone

So you’ve been to Family Court Nova Scotia, negotiated a settlement, or received a judgment, and you are now have a Court Order setting out terms like parenting time, and child or spousal support. Hopefully that’s the end of it and you can carry on with your life. Unfortunately, life can change in ways your Court Order can’t predict. Maybe you or your children’s other parent has an amazing career opportunity in Australia. This would be great but your Court Order says you have 50/50 parenting time with the kids and they started high school in Halifax. If you have a good relationship with your ex you can probably work things out without involving lawyers or the courts. If not, well that’s what Variation Applications are for.

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Money Talks: who handles the money when you’re Buying a Home in Nova Scotia

Money Talks: who handles the money when you’re Buying a Home in Nova Scotia

One of the things that incites the most anxiety when buying or selling a home is the money, who is handling it? Luckily for home buyers and sellers your trusted professionals help you in this department. Read on to learn the specifics of who does what.

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A Real-Life Horror Story – He Died Without a Will

A Real-Life Horror Story – He Died Without a Will

Once upon a time, in a land not too far from were you are reading this, there lived a kind man. When he was young, he married. A few years later he realized the marriage was a mistake and he separated from his wife. However, divorce is expensive and their separation was agreeable so they never went through with any formal paperwork. Time went on, and the man met another women who he fell in love with. She too was still married to her husband from an earlier chapter point in her life. They moved in together and had one child. Collectively, their family now had five children because he has two children from his previous marriage and she had two from hers. Life was grand, but then he died.

 

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Restrictive Covenants - What are they? Why should you care if you're buying or selling a house in Nova Scotia?

Restrictive Covenants - What are they? Why should you care if you're buying or selling a house in Nova Scotia?

Restrictive covenants are rules about the use of the property. I.e. the restrict your ability to do things on or to your property. The person (or company) that has the right to enforce these covenants is referred to as the "covenant holder" and is most often the developer of your subdivision. These rules are attached to the property and pass from one owner to the next

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What does “clean and vacant” actually mean when you're selling a house in Nova Scotia?

What does “clean and vacant” actually mean when you're selling a house in Nova Scotia?

This is something that has come up a few times this summer, so I thought I would write a short post about it.

The house (and property) should be clean and tidy. Honestly, the cleaner the better, but certainly “broom clean” is a must.

If you are buying, it may not hurt to include a professional cleaning condition in your agreement so you can be confident that the home will be clean.

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Spousal Support: Taking (some of) the mystery out of entitlement to support in Nova Scotia.

 Spousal Support: Taking (some of) the mystery out of entitlement to support in Nova Scotia.

Trying to determine whether or not you, or your spouse is entitled to spousal support upon separation can be confusing. That is because spousal support is a complicated subject that takes many different factors into account, so the answer may be very different depending on your circumstances.

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How a Lawyer Can Help You Collect Accounts Receivables in Nova Scotia

How a Lawyer Can Help You Collect Accounts Receivables in Nova Scotia

One of the biggest challenges for business owners is managing cash flow. Running a business is expensive, and while none of your creditors want to wait to be paid, sometimes collecting from your customers can be a real challenge. What can a business owner do to collect money owed by their customers?

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Changes to the Eligible Dependent Tax Credit with Shared Custody in Nova Scotia.

Changes to the Eligible Dependent Tax Credit with Shared Custody in Nova Scotia.

In shared custody arrangements child support is often calculated using the simple set off approach. This is a straight forward way of calculating child support and involves the following:

·         Parent A’s income corresponds with a child support payment of $500.

·         Parent B’s income corresponds with a child support payment of $100.

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Money Talks: How the Money Flows when you're Selling Your Home in Nova Scotia.

Money Talks: How the Money Flows when you're Selling Your Home in Nova Scotia.

One of the things that incites the most anxiety when buying or selling a home is the money, who is handling it? Luckily for home buyers and sellers your trusted professionals help you in this department. Your lawyer handles the money for you when you sell your home.

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Eligibility changes for the Child Tax Benefit with Shared Parenting in Nova Scotia

Eligibility changes for the Child Tax Benefit with Shared Parenting in Nova Scotia

Shared custody arrangements for children are becoming more and more common in Canada. In family law a 60/40 percent or closer custody split is considered shared parenting.

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Buying a condo in Nova Scotia? Understand exactly what you're buying

Buying a condo in Nova Scotia? Understand exactly what you're buying

The practical distinctions between buying a condominium and buying property can sometimes be confusing. Here are a few points to illustrate what you are buying when you buy a condo. The exact definition of what you own and what you are responsible for, i.e. what is your unit, should be outlined in your Condominium Corporation's Declaration.

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Condominiums: What is a reserve fund, and why should you care when buying a Condo in Nova Scotia?

Condominiums: What is a reserve fund, and why should you care when buying a Condo in Nova Scotia?

When you buy a condominium one of the things that you (or usually your representatives) look into is whether or not the condo corporation has a healthy reserve fund.

When you buy a condo unit, the vendor has to order what is referred to as an "estoppel certificate". This will outline the status of the fees for your specific unit, but it will also give you details about the reserve fund of the corporation.

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Nova Scotia’s “Statute of Limitations” – the time limit for filing a claim in court

Nova Scotia’s “Statute of Limitations” – the time limit for filing a claim in court

Did you know there were time limits to file a claim in court? Well, there is! Depending on the type of claim you have, the amount of time you have to file can vary substantially. This period of time is called a “limitation period”. In Nova Scotia, the limitation period is determined by the type of legislation that your claim falls under. If the legislation does not set out a time period, then the Limitations of Actions Act will outline the time limits to follow.

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Are "Executor Fees" allowed in Nova Scotia under the Probate Act?

Are "Executor Fees" allowed in Nova Scotia under the Probate Act?

Probate is the process by which a “Personal Representative” is formally appointed to have the authority to administer the estate of a deceased. The person appointed Personal Representative assumes the duty of gathering information about all of the assets of the deceased, (such as bank accounts, investments and property) paying the debts of the deceased out of the assets of the estate, and then and distributing the remainder of the assets among the rightful heirs, who are known as beneficiaries .

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