Halifax Lawyer Blog

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. .

August 30, 2021

Do I Need to Probate my Estate?

August 30, 2021/ Highlander Law Group/ Dianna Rievaj

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.

August 16, 2021

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

August 16, 2021/ Highlander Law Group/ Dianna Rievaj

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.

November 01, 2019

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

November 01, 2019/ Highlander Law Group/ Dianna Rievaj

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.

October 31, 2019

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

October 31, 2019/ Highlander Law Group/ Dianna Rievaj

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.

October 10, 2019

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

October 10, 2019/ Highlander Law Group/ Dianna Rievaj

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

October 03, 2019

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

October 03, 2019/ Highlander Law Group/ Dianna Rievaj

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.

October 01, 2019

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

October 01, 2019/ Highlander Law Group/ Dianna Rievaj

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.

September 26, 2019

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

September 26, 2019/ Highlander Law Group/ Dianna Rievaj

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?

September 19, 2019

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

September 19, 2019/ Highlander Law Group/ Dianna Rievaj

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.

September 12, 2019

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

September 12, 2019/ Highlander Law Group/ Dianna Rievaj

September 05, 2019

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

September 05, 2019/ Highlander Law Group/ Dianna Rievaj

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.

June 11, 2019

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

June 11, 2019/ Highlander Law Group/ Dianna Rievaj

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.

June 04, 2019

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

June 04, 2019/ Highlander Law Group/ Dianna Rievaj

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.

May 20, 2019

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

May 20, 2019/ Highlander Law Group/ Dianna Rievaj

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.

May 13, 2019

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

May 13, 2019/ Highlander Law Group/ Dianna Rievaj

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 .

April 30, 2019

Condo, or a house?... or something in between? - What is a bare land condominium in Nova Scotia?

April 30, 2019/ Highlander Law Group/ Dianna Rievaj

There are many different ways you can own property. The most common are owning parcels of land, or buying a unit in a building - the condominium. There is another option, where you would purchase a "bare land condominium". The ownership structure of purchasing a bare land condominium is similar to that of the traditional condominium, but refers to a parcel of land, defined by survey markers.

April 26, 2019

Understanding Damages in Personal Injury Cases in Nova Scotia

April 26, 2019/ Highlander Law Group/ Dianna Rievaj

‘Damages’ is a term used to describe the monetary compensation awarded to victims of successful Personal Injury claims. They are calculated and granted by the court following the case. The Damages are an effort to reimburse the victim, as best as possible, for any losses suffered as a result of their injury. These losses could be economic, such as their ability to work for a period of time, or non-economic such as physical injuries. In conducting their calculations of the amount and types of Damages to award, the court asks itself what amount can help to put the victim in the same position they would have been had the injury not occurred.

April 23, 2019

What does "Perfecting a Builders Lien" in Nova Scotia Mean?

April 23, 2019/ Highlander Law Group/ Dianna Rievaj

In Nova Scotia, a builder’s lien that is registered against a property only stays valid for 105 days past the last day of work done on the property unless the lien is “perfected”. “Perfection” in the context of a builder’s lien means that the person who holds the lien formalizes their claim by starting a lawsuit in the Supreme Court of Nova Scotia. If no lawsuit is started within the required time, the lien becomes completely invalid.

April 16, 2019

When Can I Sue In Small Claims Court in Nova Scotia?

April 16, 2019/ Highlander Law Group/ Dianna Rievaj

If 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.

April 11, 2019

What Happens After I Lose a Lawsuit in Nova Scotia?

April 11, 2019/ Highlander Law Group/ Dianna Rievaj

If 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.