Blogs written by lawyers at Highlander Law Group in Tantallon, Nova Scotia for people in Halifax with an interest in Real Estate Purchase and Sale, Corproate, Litigation, Debt Collection, Divorce, Probate, Wills, Power of Attorney, Trusts, Child support, Spousal Support, Custody, Migration, Debt Collection, Builders Liens, Estate Planning, Trademarks, Copyright and other Intellectual Property issues. .
Real Estate law in Nova Scotia is grounded in the very old legal concept, ‘caveat emptor’, which is ‘Buyer Beware’. The idea being, no one is forcing you to buy the property, so before you sign on the (digital) line, the onus is on you to ensure you really want what they are selling.
Read MoreIn Nova Scotia animals are legally considered property. This may seem bizarre, as our furry friends have little in common with a lamp or table. There are some areas of Canadian law that treat animals more like living things. For example, the Criminal Code of Canada provides specific crimes for cruelty to animals and provides protections for police service animals, but for any other matters focusing on pets your Province’s personal property law will apply.
Read MoreIf you are buying a home for the first time you may qualify for First Time Home Buyers' rebate.
A "first time buyer" is an individual who builds or purchases a newly built home and has not owned or occupied a home in Canada in the last five years.
The eligibility criteria for this rebate:
· The house is newly built. Substantial renovations such as a major addition or converting a building into a home do not qualify.
· The house is located in Nova Scotia and will be used for your (or your relation's) primary residence.
· Can only be claimed by individuals - not businesses.
In Nova Scotia, the Probate Act , section 32, outlines who has priority over who to administer someone's estate if they die without naming an Executor in a valid Will. this applies both when a person dies without having made a will, when someone has made a will but it is deemed not valid or when a person has a valid will but does not name an Executor or any named executors have predeceased the person.
Read MoreIn 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.
Read MoreMoving 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.
Read MoreSo 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.
Read MoreOne 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.
Read MoreOnce 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 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
Read MoreTrying 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.
Read MoreOne 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?
Read MoreIn 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.
Read MoreOne 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.
Read MoreShared 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.
Read MoreThe 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.
Read MoreDid 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.
Read MoreProbate 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 .
Read MoreIf you are having an issue and you would like to go to court but the idea of an expensive legal battle that drags out for years is not something you are interested in you might want to consider Small Claims Court in Nova Scotia. Small Claims Court is designed for matters that are for smaller amounts of money and can be decided without years worth of evidence. However, there are limits to the matters you can take to Small Claims Court.
Read MoreIf you participate in a lawsuit and lose, the judge will issue an order against you. The order will outline the details of his decision, specifically the details of what you are legally obligated to do. In many cases this involves paying somebody a certain amount of money. At this point you can simply choose to pay the amount the judge has ordered you to. However, for a lot of people this is not a realistic option.
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