Wills & Trusts

No Will or Out-of-Date Documents?

• Are you among the nearly 50% of Canadians who do not have a will or power of attorney in place?
• Do you have an out-of-date will that no longer reflects your wishes?
• Have you been meaning to deal with it, but you just keep not getting around to it?

Please do not keep putting it off – we regularly see the sad results of this and are glad to be able to help clients avoid them.

Changes in your Life

• Have you recently experienced a big change in your life?
• Have you recently moved, retired, been widowed, divorced, or remarried?
• Have you downsized or moved into a care facility, or had a change in medical status?

These types of changes provide good reasons to revisit one’s will, power of attorney, and health care decision-making documents, as well as any other estate and incapacity planning measures. We can help you navigate this transitional stage. We can put your mind at ease about the sufficiency of your current documents and planning or, if needed, help you update what needs refreshing.

From Simple to Complex

From the straightforward to the complicated and contentious, assisting with a will always requires careful consideration of a client’s assets and how they are structured. For example, beneficiary-designated assets (e.g., life insurance, TFSAs, RRSPs/RRIFs, and pensions) and jointly owned assets require careful attention. In some circumstances, consideration of the use of trusts created during one’s lifetime may also be appropriate (e.g., alter-ego trusts and spousal and joint partner trusts). For clients with needs ranging from the very simple to the complex, we use plain language and provide clear guidance to help assemble estate and incapacity plans that reflect their wishes.

Our clients may live in a blended family, have a disabled or minor beneficiary, run a business, have landing pads in several countries and assets that span the globe, or they may have very straightforward circumstances and wishes. In all cases, we encourage them to consider important contingencies, and we work with them to carefully craft a plan that can hold up over time and permit effective and efficient estate administration.

Planning for Incapacity

By assisting with documents like powers of attorney and representation agreements, we help ensure that trusted individuals can take care of our client’s financial affairs, legal affairs, healthcare, and personal care if needed.

Committeeship Applications

When necessary, we can also help family members of people who have lost the mental capacity to manage their own affairs and do not have a valid power of attorney in place. We can assist with an application to the court for an order appointing someone to take charge of an incapacitated person’s affairs. This is known as a committeeship order, and the person appointee is called the committee (pronounced caw-mi-tay, or caw-mi-tee).

Connect with Us

If you have any questions about wills, powers of attorney, substitute healthcare decision-making, trusts, will variation, or anything else relating to estate or incapacity planning, please get in touch. Please also have a look through some of our articles on a variety of related topics.