Do you have an estate plan? Is it documented?
If your answer is no, you join the ranks of more than half of Canadian adults (56 per cent) who haven’t even completed their last will and testament, according to a 2012 survey release by a Canadian insurance company.
Of the 44 per cent who have completed a will, a further 60 per cent have not updated their wills in the last 10 years and, although you are more likely to become incapacitated than die, the number of Canadians without a signed power of attorney is even larger (71 per cent).
The result: the absence of a clear estate plan, that starts with a signed will, can become a divisive and contentious issue at a time when families are already experiencing grief, and can result in a range of complications from belongings not going to the person they were intended for to court battles that cost thousands of dollars.
Pisto Keil Wealth Management encourages you to attend our free Estate Planning Workshop.
We will discuss the potential pitfalls to avoid in planning the distribution of your estate and what essential tools there are to help.
The workshop will be held on Nov. 20 at Chances RimRock Casino, 4890 Cherry Creek Rd, Port Alberni. Registration is at 5:30 p.m. with seminar beginning at 6 p.m.
Please reserve your seat by contacting Alyssa Neumann at 1-800-663-0606 or email: natalie.walker@scotiamcleod.com.
Many people believe that making their property and investments joint with their heirs prior to their death will create ease, efficiency and reduce costs like probate when it comes to distributing their estate.
While this can be true, this approach is fraught with risk. Consider the divorce rate in Canada currently sitting at 41 per cent.
Your property that is in joint ownership with your child could be subject to claims by the ex-spouse. This is not the only unintended consequence of this strategy.
Keeping your estate plan up-to-date is important. As we age, much changes in our lives including assets, family dynamics, where we live, how we live. Your plan should reflect these changes. There may also be circumstance in your family where you will consider giving less to one child than another. This is one area where even the most well constructed will has its limits. Unless properly approached, this can create additional problems that could include a legal challenge to your will resulting in your intentions not being carried out.
In our wealth management practice we have seen situations where there has been no estate planning, no will or a poorly constructed one and there is no doubt that this creates substantial problems for heirs and executors.