Jun 11, 2026
Caring for an aging parent, grandparent, or sibling can be emotionally and financially exhausting. For many people, it means rearranging their lives: attending appointments, managing medications, coordinating care, giving up personal time, or even moving in to help.
It is often difficult, deeply personal work, and unfortunately, frequently unpaid.
After a loved one passes away, many caregivers wonder: can I be compensated for everything I did?
The answer is: sometimes. But Ontario courts have made it clear that caregiving compensation is not automatic, and successful claims are often smaller than families expect.
There is currently no statute or regulation that prescribes a formula for calculating caregiving compensation. This issue has been addressed extensively by the courts, however.
Here is what Ontario courts actually look at, and what caregivers should know.
Not All Caregiving Is Treated the Same
Courts are generally more willing to award compensation for care management and decision-making (e.g., as an attorney for personal care) than for hands-on caregiving performed by a family member.
This distinction matters. Many compensation claims fail because they blur the line between informal family caregiving and organized care management.
The Starting Point: Courts Presume Family Care Is Free
Ontario courts begin with a difficult assumption for many caregivers: adult children are generally expected to provide some level of care to aging parents without expecting payment.
As a result, compensation is usually limited to care that goes above and beyond ordinary family support.
What Courts Actually Consider
Ontario courts assess caregiving claims based on reasonableness. In Re Brown (1999), the court identified several key factors, including:
- the need for the services
- the nature of the care provided
- the caregiver’s qualifications for the role
- the value of the services
- how long the care was provided
But, most importantly, courts require evidence.
General statements about “helping every day” are not enough. Courts expect specific, verifiable details about what was done, how often, and over what period of time. This is why keeping detailed logs and records of your caregiving is so important.
Common Reasons Why Caregiving Compensation Claims Fail
The case law reveals several recurring issues that frequently reduce or defeat caregiving claims altogether:
(1) The Court Finds You Would Have Done It Anyway
In Childs v Childs, the court found that even though the daughter provided commendable care for her mom, she would have cared for her mother regardless of the possibility of payment. As such, her claim was reduced from a staggering $133,000 to just $25,000.
Courts look closely at whether the caregiver expected compensation at the time the care was provided, not only after the estate became disputed.
(2) You Lived Rent-Free or Received Other Benefits
Courts may treat free housing, meals, expense payments, or other financial support as compensation already received.
In both Sasso v Sasso and Ventura v Ventura, the court held that living rent-free effectively compensated the caregiver.
(3) Care Was Shared
Where siblings, PSWs, or other family members also helped provide care, courts are often reluctant to compensate only one person, especially where others are not seeking payment.
(4) Documentation Is Weak
Poor record-keeping is one of the biggest reasons claims fail.
In Sasso, for example, a claim of nearly $200,000 was rejected largely because the caregiver kept no meaningful records and provided very little evidence about the services performed.
The Most Important Practical Lesson: Keep Records
If there is one clear takeaway from the case law, it is this: Documentation matters.
Courts cannot compensate work they cannot measure, and detailed evidence can make an enormous difference. For example, in Re Daniel Estate, the caregivers did not keep formal timesheets, but they provided detailed affidavits and obtained a professional cost-of-care assessment. That evidence helped support the claim.
Caregivers who may later seek compensation should keep:
- calendars or logs of appointments
- notes of time spent caregiving
- records of care coordination
- emails with healthcare providers
- receipts and supporting documents
If you are currently providing care or believe you may have a claim relating to care already provided, speaking with an estates lawyer early can help you understand your rights and protect your position.
Fara Seddigh
Nothing contained in this post constitutes legal advice or establishes a solicitor-client relationship. If you have any questions regarding your legal rights or legal obligations, you should consult a lawyer.
May 27, 2026
An Estate Trustee (also known as an Executor) named in a Will is someone that will be responsible for the administration of an estate from start to finish. Choosing the right estate trustee can make estate administration significantly smoother for your loved ones. Choosing the wrong estate trustee can be costly and can delay the estate administration. For this purpose, there are several factors to consider when deciding on who should be the estate trustee of your estate.
Organizational Skills
Dealing with your own personal paperwork and finances can sometimes be overwhelming and time consuming. Now imagine someone else having to deal with it after you have passed away. One way to help your named estate trustee is to have your paperwork already organized. However, a good estate trustee would be someone who has the organizational skills to assist them with managing your estate assets, meeting deadlines, and ensuring that all tax returns have been filed.
Family Dynamics
In most cases, we see testators appoint close family members to be the executor of their estate. While there is absolutely nothing wrong with choosing a family member, you must consider if this family member will remain neutral. It may be significantly easier to choose a close family member especially if they are already aware of your assets. However, would the other beneficiaries trust this person? Do you think there would be any conflicts if this person is named as the estate trustee of your estate? These are just some of the things you must consider when choosing a close family member to be your estate trustee.
Trust
Last, but not least, choose someone you trust completely. Your named estate trustee should be someone who you know would respect your wishes regardless of what’s in it for them. This person must show that they can be reliable, diligent and be able to administer your estate with integrity. A dishonest estate trustee can create several financial and family problems that can delay the administration of your estate and cause unnecessary hardship for your loved ones.
Choosing the right estate trustee is very important in your estate planning process. By selecting someone who is organized, trustworthy and capable of handling the role, you can help reduce stress, provide a peace of mind for everyone involved and ensure your estate is handled the way you intended.
Felicia Cyril
Nothing contained in this post constitutes legal advice or establishes a solicitor-client relationship. If you have any questions regarding your legal rights or legal obligations, you should consult a lawyer.
May 5, 2026
Working in Estates law, I have seen countless matters where a person has died without a Will (“intestate”), or their Will was written decades prior to their passing. As such, their Will (or lack thereof) does not accurately reflect their assets upon their death, nor their wishes for the management and distribution of their assets.
This got me thinking: ‘When was the last time my Mum and Dad updated their Wills?’. I brought this up to my parents one day and was shocked to find out that their Wills were written over two decades ago just after I was born. Having children prompted my parents to draft Wills so that they could ensure we were taken care of in the event of an accident or illness. Now that so many years had passed, my parents’ lives had changed dramatically, but their Wills did not reflect this. I knew it was time for me to have “the talk” with them (the Will talk!).
I took the time to discuss the importance of a clear, comprehensive and up-to-date Will with my parents, and it is probably one of our most important conversations to date. Shortly after we spoke, my parents made an appointment with a lawyer and had their Wills updated to reflect their current wishes and assets.
I am beyond grateful that I had the knowledge and forethought needed to persuade my parents to update their Wills. Most times, people do not draft or update their Wills because they don’t truly understand their significance. To put it simply, having an accurate attested Will is essential for three main reasons:
- It will protect your assets and wishes;
- It will provide clear instructions to loved ones upon your passing; and
- It will help relieve any potential conflict regarding your estate.
I hope you take this blog post as an opportunity to remind your loved ones of the importance of having a formal Will!
Hannah Henley
Nothing contained in this post constitutes legal advice or establishes a solicitor-client relationship. If you have any questions regarding your legal rights or legal obligations, you should consult a lawyer.
Apr 23, 2026
As a mediator, I have seen the same dynamic play out in many power of attorney disputes. Sibling A swears that the parent suffering from dementia doesn’t trust Sibling B, and wants Sibling A to act as POA for property and personal care. Sibling B tells me the opposite: the parent is highly mistrustful of Sibling A and insists that Sibling B is the only one that can be trusted to make substitute decisions about finances and health care.
Most of the time, I believe both of them.
I try very hard in our caucus meetings to ask questions aimed at encouraging each of the parties to explore whether both things might be true. I am surprised at how closed litigants are to the possibility that Alzheimer’s disease is the true villain in the dispute.
According to the Alzheimer’s Association, “a person with Alzheimer’s may become suspicious of those around them, even accusing others of theft, infidelity or other improper behaviour”. [1] Yet, in power of attorney disputes, siblings are often unwilling to consider that the parent’s suspicions about their sibling might be unfounded.
Another feature of dementia is confabulation. It is a natural coping mechanism which happens when a dementia patient attempts to fill in missing gaps in their memory with things that are untrue. Rather than confronting the painful truth that the patient has no memory of that meeting with the lawyer or that discussion with Child A, the diseased brain protects the patient by supplying false memories.
Alzheimer’s disease lies to the people suffering from it. Dementia patients commonly experience anosognosia – the inability to recognize their own memory and cognitive deficits.
Logic would dictate that when a parent suffers from Alzheimer’s, and says two different things to two different people, the most likely explanation is that the disease has rendered the parent an unreliable narrator. And yet, so many siblings caught up in POA disputes immediately dismiss the disease as a possible contributor to the dispute. They confidently conclude that the only possible explanation is that their “evil sibling” is a liar.
Perhaps it is less painful to believe their sibling is lying (particularly a sibling they never got along with) than it is to accept that the disease has already progressed to the point that the parent’s words cannot be relied upon anymore. When a child has spent a lifetime looking to a parent for support, advice, care and judgment, it is difficult to accept that certain aspects of the relationship are now gone.
Many years of litigating and mediating these disputes have convinced me that litigation is a terrible way of resolving them. Once litigants reach the mediation stage, they have spent tens of thousands of dollars on legal fees, making them even more entrenched in the righteousness of their position. Too often the stumbling block to settling these cases is the sunk costs of the legal fees already spent.
I can’t help but wonder: What if the siblings had pursued mediation from the outset instead of going to court first? What if they had consulted dementia experts first before going to legal experts? What if they had focused on dementia as the enemy instead of their sibling?
Angela Casey
Nothing contained in this post constitutes legal advice or establishes a solicitor-client relationship. If you have any questions regarding your legal rights or legal obligations, you should consult a lawyer.
[1] https://www.alz.org/
Apr 17, 2026
Opening a lawyer’s invoice can feel unfamiliar, with new terms, decimal hours, and detailed line items. This guide is designed to walk you through your invoice so you can review it with confidence and clarity.
- Invoice Summary
Most legal invoices begin with a summary that provides an at a glance overview of the total charges. The summary typically includes the following:
- Invoice number
- Date of the invoice
- Date the invoice is due
- Amount due, inclusive of tax
- Retainer balance/amount in trust, if applicable
- Any previous outstanding invoices, if applicable
- Who performed the tasks, often referred to as the “timekeeper” (partner, associate, law clerk, student)
- Understanding the Billing Structure
Your invoice reflects the fee and billing structure set out in your Retainer Agreement. This agreement outlines the firm’s rate schedule, billing practices, and disbursement policies to ensure clarity in billing from the start.
Two examples of billing structures include:
Hourly Billing
The most standard billing structure in law firms is time-based billing, where time is tracked in increments (6 minutes = 0.1 hours).
Each line entry shows the following:
- Date of service
- Description of the task
- Time spent (quantity)
- Rate of the timekeeper
- Total cost of the task
- Any potential discounts
- You may also notice “non-billable entries”, these are services that are recorded but not charged.
While reviewing your invoice, you’ll see that each entry includes clear descriptions of the work performed and how it contributes to moving your matter forward. This level of detail is meant to give you full transparency into how time is allocated and how your file is progressing. Legal work is often handled as a team, and invoices reflect this collaboration. That means rates can vary depending on who’s working on your file.
Flat Fees
For certain services, a fixed fee may apply. In these cases, the invoice reflects a single agreed-upon price for a specific task. Flat fees are commonly used for services such as mediation, consultations, and probate.
- Services vs. Expenses
On an invoice, you’ll usually see a clear breakdown of the services provided along with any related expenses. Services reflect charges for the time spent completing specific tasks. Expenses, also referred to as disbursements, are costs the firm may incur on your file, such as court filing fees, process server fees, postage or courier services, fees for obtaining records, and printing expenses. These expenses are generally listed at the bottom of the invoice, after the services.
Lastly, your legal invoice is more than just a bill, it’s a detailed record of the work completed on your behalf, so it’s important that it’s clear and easy to follow. We’re always happy to help with any billing questions you may have!
Emilia Szczepkowski
Nothing contained in this post constitutes legal advice or establishes a solicitor-client relationship. If you have any questions regarding your legal rights or legal obligations, you should consult a lawyer.
