July 30, 2024
Estate planning is essential for every individual to secure their personal and financial legacy. To ensure that your wishes are honoured, and your loved ones are taken care of, it is important that your Will and Power of Attorneys are well-crafted and in place. Estate planning involves taking the proactive step of organizing your affairs and determining how your assets will be managed and distributed in the event of incapacitation or death. This article will delve into the importance of these elements and how they contribute to a comprehensive estate plan.
A Will provides you with peace of mind, knowing that your estate is managed intentionally, while minimizing potential legal and financial complications in your absence. A Will, also known as a Last Will and Testament, is a legal document that describes your intentions for the distributions of your assets and wealth, and the care of any minor children after your death.
Being the cornerstone of your estate plan, a Will gives you the powers to name executors, specify bequests, appoint guardians, and establish trusts for your beneficiaries. Here are some of the key elements involved in crafting your Will:
Executor/trustee: a legal representative chosen to administer an estate upon your passing.
Beneficiary: an individual or organization that is receiving some or all of your assets and property upon your passing.
Bequest: a provision in your will that allows you to allocate specific assets to beneficiaries or charity organizations named in your will.
Custodian: an individual responsible for the care and upbringing of your dependants or minor children if you pass away.
Testamentary Trust: a legal arrangement that holds money, property, or personal items for beneficiaries by managing assets based on the directions in your will.
Should you fail to establish a Will that secures the future of your estate, your estate will be distributed without your freedom of choice in accordance with Ontario’s Succession Law Reform Act.
A Power of Attorney is an important legal arrangement that allows you to appoint an individual to act on your behalf while you remain alive. As a grantor, you would be able to appoint an attorney to ensure that your affairs are managed smoothly and in accordance with your wishes and best interests. Your attorney is trusted with the responsibility of making significant decisions when you become mentally or physically incapacitated. There are two types of Power of Attorneys in Ontario: Power of Attorney for Property and Power of Attorney for Personal Care.
Grantor: The person who makes a power of attorney and appoints another to act on their behalf.
Attorney: The person you appoint to act on your behalf.
The Power of Attorney for Property grants the attorney with the power to make decisions regarding finances on your behalf. As a continuing/enduring power of attorney, the attorney can exercise this authority when you are no longer mentally capable of managing your affairs. As a non-continuing power of attorney, the attorney can exercise this authority while you are still mentally capable of managing your financial affairs. For example, if you are away from home for an extended period of time, you may appoint someone as your attorney to look after your financial affairs.
An attorney is empowered with the authority to do almost anything with your finances. This includes:
The Power of Attorney for Personal Care involves making health care and personal decisions for you. These are important decisions surrounding medical treatments, living arrangements and palliative (life-support stage) matters.
In Ontario, there are a few requirements that must be met in order to appoint one as a power of attorney.
The attorney must be:
When more than one person is acting as authority, you can grant them authority to act independently under several authority, or the individuals chosen can also act together under joint authority.
Now that you have a brief overview of Wills & Power of Attorneys. We are going to begin eliminating some common misconceptions.
Once you reach the age of 18, it is important to draft a Will even if you don’t own a lot of financial assets or have children. All Canadian adults should have a Will and Power of Attorneys to secure their future. Having a Will ready illustrates what your loved ones should do in the event you pass away. No matter how old you are, life is never a certainty, and things can happen unexpectedly. By having a Will in place, you can be ready, protected, and have peace of mind.
Your estate will be distributed based on Ontario’s Succession Law Reform Act if you pass away without a Will. This means that you do not have the ability to fully exercise the freedom to allocate your assets as you please. This could leave spouses, common-law partners, or other loved ones vulnerable as assets would not be distributed according to your intentions.
There are many Will templates offered online for different prices. However, if the correct legal language is not used in your Will, your Will could be ruled invalid, and your estate would be handled by the courts as if you had no Will. You may also be unaware of witnessing and other requirements without which your Will would be legally invalid.
More complicated estates may not be sufficiently handled by the templates available online. For example, if you own a business, own multiple properties, have complicated family dynamics, or significant assets, an estate lawyer would be able to provide you with constructive and tax-effective strategies based on their legal expertise.
Why would you risk losing your ability to choose what happens after your passing? To ensure that your Will and Power of Attorneys are both legally valid and effective, the best thing to do is hire an estate lawyer.
An individual’s legacy and security of their loved ones are built on a well-structured estate plan. After facing the difficult time of losing you, your family should not be burdened with the confusion of how to handle your financial and personal affairs. With our firm’s meticulous attention to detail and deep understanding of the law, we ensure that our clients’ assets are protected, their intentions are honoured, and their beneficiaries are looked after well. At Bradshaw & Mancherjee, our expertise in drafting wills and creating power of attorneys allows us to tailor legal strategies that meet the unique needs of each client. As estate lawyers in Toronto, we take pride in our role of safeguarding the legacies of those we serve, making estate planning an integral part of our practice.
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