I have many people who buy condos because they are affordable. A very important consideration, however, is whether you can handle the condo lifestyle. I have a client who recently put an offer on a condo. Fortunately, he had me review the status certificate and...
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cesia@wall-arm.ca
Who should be your executor?
The choice of your executor is probably the most important decision you will make when you do your will. Your executor will be responsible for burying you, for selling all of your stuff and collecting the cash, for communicating with beneficiaries, and for...
How do you get to your home?
For most of us who live in cities, the answer is, well, I pull up to my driveway from the city street. This isn’t always, the case though; some city dwellers have different access, and many rural properties do. There are different ways that you could access your...
Has your life changed? Don’t forget to update your life insurance.
And your RSP, and your TFSA, and your RIF. Ontario has some laws that many people would find surprising. For example, marriage automatically revokes a will, but divorce, separation and death do not; none of those will change a beneficiary designation on life...
If you’re looking to buy on the water, be sure you really are
Barrie is the gateway to one of the most popular cottage areas in Ontario, which means that there are a lot of people driving through my city every Friday on their way to their vacation home. Sometimes, those cottages are a short walk from a lake or river; sometimes,...
Don’t procrastinate
We all do it – we put off things that don’t seem urgent, and maybe someday get around to them. Certain things just seem less pressing, and so we delay them even if we know that they are important. This blog post was supposed to go live this morning, and here I am at...
Time for a walkthrough
It’s quite common when you buy to have the right for a few more visits to the house before closing. One of the best times to do one of those visits is the day before or day of closing. It’s not uncommon for me to get a call from a client the day after they move in...
Stepchildren are not children when it comes to your estate
I have more than one client in a blended family. Sometimes, the family is so well blended that the stepparent considers the stepchild to be his or her actual child, but in law, they are treated differently. If you die without a will, your stepchildren have no right of...
When do I get my keys?
Here’s a companion to my post from two weeks ago: if you are buying, when do you get to start moving in? This is a question that doesn’t have a great answer, because it really depends on a lot of things. First, who is your mortgage with, and have you gotten them...
Wills for single people
Prince died without a will, leaving his entire estate to be shared by his siblings. For people who are unmarried and have no children, this is a very important lesson: if you want to control where your assets go, you need a will. The default rule is usually not the...