Many people donate to charities on a very regular basis; we live in a very giving society. Many more people will leave a bequest, large or small, in their will to ensure that their legacy will live on after their death. However, it is crucial to be sure of what is...
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Estate Planning
The importance of a properly drafted power of attorney
Even though the vast majority of Canadians do not actually have a will, most at least recognize the importance of them. The same is not true for powers of attorney, and in particular, the Power of Attorney for Personal Care. In Ontario, as in many other places, it can...
Paying your executor
Whenever I take will instructions, one question I ask is how much they want to pay their executor. Sometimes, the client feels that the executor will be inheriting a large portion of the estate and so should not be compensated at all; people are more likely to allow...
Don’t accidentally revoke your power of attorney
Powers of attorney are like wills; if you do a new one, it automatically revokes the old one. Today I have a quick tip to avoid accidentally revoking your old power of attorney: if you have a professionally drafted POA, don’t sign a bank POA. It may look completely...
Common law, again
Sometimes I feel like a broken record here, but I find it so important to keep going over this point: if you are common law, you have no inheritance rights whatsoever. None. I am in the process of helping a client work through her mother’s estate. Her mother died late...
Power of attorney tips for snowbirds
There are a lot of Canadians who head to the southern United States every winter. Tax and residency issues aside, there is another issue that many don’t think about: ensuring they have a valid power of attorney that will work in both jurisdictions. I recently attended...
A wave of estate litigation may be coming. Be ready.
There have been several articles over the past several years indicating that we are heading toward one of the greatest intergenerational wealth transfers that we have ever seen. Canadian seniors have unprecedented wealth, and plan to leave the vast majority of it to...
The tragedy of not having an estate plan
I talk about this all the time, but today I’m going to simply link to a story about a man who left behind a wife and five children from two marriages when he died suddenly at age 46. His estate was left in a complete mess, and his family put through extreme chaos,...
5 questions
Here are five basic questions that you should ask when preparing an estate plan: Would it benefit me and my family to gift during my life? Do I need to seek specialized advice? Do I have a plan in place for if I become disabled or incapacitated? Does my will include...
Who will manage your digital estate?
A recent poll found that 70% of Americans with wills had made no provision in their wills for dealing with their digital assets, such as online gaming or financial accounts, or social media accounts. Most adults today have some sort of online presence. I personally...