CONCERNS WITH JOINT ASSETS WITH CHILDREN FOR ESTATE PLANNING PURPOSES
Clients often ask us to transfer their assets (including their house) so that it is held jointly between them and one or more of their children. Transferring your assets into your name and one or more of your children’s names as joint tenants in order to avoid probate tax is often a bad idea. Continue reading
WHAT ARE A BENEFICIARY’S RIGHTS?
If you are the beneficiary of an estate, what information should you expect from the executor / estate trustee and what happens from your perspective as a beneficiary?
First of all, in Ontario there is no requirement for a reading of the will as you see in American TV programs. Beneficiaries of an estate have the right to information concerning the estate and to receive their inheritance in a timely manner. The executor may or may not give you a copy of the will shortly after the death. Continue reading
DROPBOX ALLOWS REMOTE ACCESS TO ALL YOUR FILES
DropBox is cloud based storage for your computer. With a DropBox account you can save your office files to DropBox and then access those files from home or anywhere else you might happen to be.
DropBox simply appears in your file explorer window as a drive. You can create subfolders within your DropBox account. Continue reading
TRUSTS AND THEIR USE IN ESTATE PLANNING
Trusts are similar in function to a gift left to someone in a Will, except that Trusts can be set up either within a Will or while the “settlor” (the person creating the Trust) is still alive. A Trust is created using a written instrument that sets out the terms of the Trust. A Trust needs to appoint at least one trustee, who administers the Trust for the settlor according to the terms set out in the document. Most Trusts are set up to be “irrevocable” which means that once they are set up and the assets and/or money being held by the Trust is transferred to the trustee, the settlor cannot change their minds and get the assets or money back. Continue reading
TO AVOID CLOSING DELAYS, CONSIDER BRIDGE FINANCING
It is common for people who are selling a house and buying a replacement home to have both deals close on the same day. This can sometimes result in closing delays. Your sale transaction has to be completed before your purchase transaction can close as the funds from the sale are required for the purchase. There is no way for you to know how many other “downstream” transactions have to close as well. If your sale transaction closes late in the day there may not be enough time to transfer funds to the lawyer acting on the other side of your purchase transaction. In that event, your furniture may be stuck on a moving truck and the moving company will likely charge you hefty standby fees. Continue reading
INCORPORATING YOUR BUSINESS AS AN ESTATE PLAN
There are several aspects of incorporating your business that can become important when estate planning is considered. The structure of your business incorporation and your plans for your shares after your death should be considered as an estate planning tool. Continue reading
IS A CORPORATE EXECUTOR RIGHT FOR YOU?
When you prepare your Will you will need to select one or more executors to administer your estate . People will often select their spouse as their initial executor and their children as their alternate executors.
There may be situations where having a “corporate executor” makes sense for you. A corporate executor consists of executor services provided through a trust company. Many Canadian financial institutions offer corporate executor / estate trustee services. Continue reading
ALL IS NOT LOST WHEN AN ORIGINAL WILL IS LOST
Executors and the beneficiaries of an estate may panic when they discover the deceased’s original Will has been lost or destroyed or they just cannot find it. The courts may allow a copy of a Will to be probated in the place of the original Will in the right circumstances.
You must be able to show:
ASSET IMPACT ON ODSP INCOME
The Ontario Disability Support Program provides eligible people with disabilities with income support to pay for living expenses such as food and housing. Eligibility for this program, as well as the amount of income support you can receive, is directly affected not only by a person’s income, but also the assets they own. Continue reading
OUTSTANDING CLAIMS AGAINST AN ESTATE
If you are acting as an Estate Trustee, you may have to deal with a person who decides they want to make a claim against the estate for money they believed the deceased person owed them, for any reason. Sometimes a person may only make a suggestion that they will file a claim but have yet to follow through on actual court documents. In any event, an Estate Trustee could be liable if they distribute the estate with the knowledge that the claim is a possibility and that person later files a claim. Continue reading
