Key recommendations for executors Acting as an executor carries a considerable amount of responsibility and can be more challenging than is often initially expected.  To help executors navigate their obligations, this post provides 5 tips for executors. 1.     Ask this one question.   If you know that you are named as executor under a will, consider asking this one important question: where is the original signed will stored and how will I obtain access to it?  The executor requires the original signed will to properly administer the estate.  Without it, th ..read more

How do cash gifts made during life affect estate plans? This is part 1 of a series of posts on " inter vivos" gifting (i.e. gifting between living people).  I encourage you to come back over the next few weeks to read about the various ways people are transferring their wealth prior to death, and how it impacts estate planning. *** “We are on the cusp of the largest intergenerational transfer of wealth.” You have probably heard this statement and thought that the transfer is looming because a large portion of the population is nearing death.  Until recently, that’s what I though ..read more

Five practical tips for small business owners When small business owners inquire about succession planning, advisers understandably jump to tax planning strategies.  But what are some of the tangible, day-to-day things that small business owners can do to assist with succession planning?  Keep your minute books up to date.  It may seem trite to say, but it’s important to keep resolutions signed, director and shareholder registers current, and share certificates issued or cancelled.  If these tasks are not attended to, they create a lot of work (read: legal costs) to cor ..read more

Will anyone be able to access your digital photos and videos? "What happens to my digital assets on death?" Some are referring to cryptocurrencies, online accounts, business or personal websites.  But most are asking about the memories they’ve captured in photos and videos, then shared on Facebook and Instagram, and stored on their phones or in the cloud. Planning for your sentimental digital assets is an integral part of estate planning and certainly something to discuss with your lawyer as you prepare your Will.  But in the meantime, you may like to check out this website produ ..read more

When estate planning with clients, I am sometime asked, “What actually happens with all my stuff?  How does that all work?”  That’s when I wish I could introduce them to my Executor clients who will undoubtedly sigh, maybe roll their eyes, shed a tear, or grit their teeth with frustration and resentment.  This past weekend, the Globe and Mail ran sister articles on this topic by Erin Anderssen - great reads if you have a chance to check them out: “The great junk transfer is coming. A look at the burden (and big business) of decluttering as Canadians inherit piles of their pa ..read more

Within minutes of their birth, my twin daughters were whisked off to the NICU at Michael Garron Hospital.  It was a numbing experience, one that I look back on easily detached from the moment, like a fly on the wall watching it all unfold.  Maybe the detachment was an act of self-preservation.  Or maybe it was just all too surreal.  Because it is WEIRD to birth children that you carried for many months, and then all of a sudden have them be taken away to an unknown location to become patients. In the days that followed, I spent most of my time by their side in the NICU, w ..read more

How many lawyers do we need? In recent weeks, the question has come up a few times: “We are a blended family. Do we each need a lawyer, or can we use the same lawyer to prepare our Wills?” When advising a client – no matter the relationship status – it is important to determine who may have a claim against their estate and to plan accordingly.  Where a couple only has children from their current relationship, usually only one lawyer is retained to prepare their Wills.  The partners – whether married or common law – present the same legal obligations on death, namely to each other ..read more

New rules may impact your estate For the first time in a long time, some of the rules of succession have changed. Effective January 1, 2022, amendments to the Succession Law Reform Act (the “Act”) came into force.  The key changes alter who can inherit from our estates when our relationship status changes.  While some of the amendments are long overdue, the true impacts of the new rules will not be apparent until the courts have had the opportunity to interpret them. 1.     Marriage no longer revokes a will You may have heard this long-standing rule: “marriage revo ..read more

Thinking and talking about death can shape how you live Rarely do we hear about people on their deathbeds thinking about their professional accomplishments, the material things they have amassed, or the amount sitting in their bank accounts. Rather, as Australian nurse Bonnie Ware noted in her book “Top Five Regrets of the Dying” , those nearing death tend to express the following regrets: I wish I’d had the courage to live a life true to myself, not the life others expected of me. I wish I hadn’t worked so hard. I wish I’d had the courage to express my feelings. I wish I had stayed in touc ..read more

What do beneficiary designations have to do with estate planning? A lot.   A beneficiary designation is a way of specifying who will receive the funds in your RRSPs, RRIFs, TFSAs, etc. (i.e. a registered plan) when you die. Similarly, a beneficiary designation on a life insurance policy names the person(s) who will receive the insurance proceeds payable on your death. In Ontario, beneficiary designations can be made in one of three ways: by completing a beneficiary designation form with the institution holding the plan (i.e. the bank, life insurance company, etc.); including a benefic ..read more