Wills and Estates

Special words are used by lawyers and judges to describe the estate-planning process and the way it is supervised by judges. To see how estate planning works you need to understand the basic terms and concepts.

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If your will was prepared by a lawyer, finding a place to store it isn't a problem because lawyers are happy to do that for their clients. But when you make a will yourself you don't have that option.

Some people think the probate court or a government office should store it for them because a will is an important legal document. Unfortunately, this is a service they do not provide, so you are on your own...

Writing your will starts with choosing the right executor. After all, it's your executor's job to find all your assets, pay all your debts, and distribute what's left to your beneficiaries to your will. This sounds easy, but unless you have been an executor you do not know what an executor's job really involves. So who should be your executor? As Tom Carter states in Write Your Legal Will in 3 East Steps, the best way to answer this question is to start with another question, "What does an executor do?"...

As people live longer, healthier, more active lives these days, it is not at all unusual to see marriages between individuals in their 60s, 70s and beyond. If you are among these happy folks, it is important that you turn your mind to estate planning. Booking the honeymoon in the Bahamas or working on the guest list is a lot more fun than thinking about your eventual demise, but there are plenty of people in your life who are depending on you to get this right, legally and financially...

UPDATED 2014

A little update on the story that went live in local papers recently came with the announcement of the most recent of tragic and too-soon passings. Revealed last month was the will of Philip Seymour Hoffman, who shocked the world with his sudden death in February.

In it, he left his fortune to his ex-partner and mother of all three of his children along with explicit instructions on the caretaking of his eldest son.  Though detailed, even down to the cities he’d like his son raised in, he made no mention of his two younger children. 

While is can be surmised simply that M...

We have just learned that Canada Post no longer allows free change of address services for the administrator of a will. So if you are administering the will of someone, you will now need to pay the commercial rate to redirect the deceased person's mail. This is an expense the administrator can charge back to the estate...

When you are retired, but still have your physical and mental health, you should take a fresh look at your financial plans, your estate plan and will, and how you and your spouse communicate. Health changes can be sudden in one's later years, and in bad cases can have a very negative impact on your ability to think through and deal with issues.

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As our world becomes increasingly digital, it is worth taking a fresh look at the possible consequences of the changes we are witnessing and participating in. As I grow older, I become more aware of the question, "What happens to all this when I die?"

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[Updated] This is a summary of Alberta's new Wills and Succession Act, which came into force on February 1^st 2012. The new Act repeals the Wills Act, Intestate Succession Act, Dependents’ Relief Act,, Survivorship Act, and s. 47 Trustee Act. It also amends the Amends Matrimonial Property Act (MPA) to allow for MPA applications after death of spouse.

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