Six ways to lose your estate

Lynne Butler at the Estate Law Canada blog posted an interesting link a few weeks ago to an article called “6 Ways to Lose Your Estate” at Investopedia. The author, Stephanie Barton, goes through the six main reasons why it is important to have a will: control over your executor; reducing fees and interest costs; control over beneficiaries; reducing probate costs; reducing taxes; and reducing government intrusion. I would also add control over guardianship of minor children and the freedom to choose exactly how your assets are distributed, and not simply where. It is extremely important to have a valid will in place in order to ensure that your assets go where you want them to.