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Wills

Evoex said:
As I’ve said before. As someone whose currently going through this process as executor , get your ducks in a row sooner rather then later. You never know what’s going to happen.

-Will
-Summarize your assets and locations. Passwords etc, don’t matter so much as executor can waive power of attorney in anyones face pretty much and get access to what they need. Case in point, when the hospital advised my dad was not going to hang on much longer my sister and I used power of attorney to transfer the house into our names, thus avoiding probate. We also moved his money around, paid down debt, etc.

FYI, even if someone passed and accounts are frozen, bills can still be paid out of that account during probate.
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Always remember that POA dies with the donor, you must act before the final hour. I also suggest people get joined on all financial accounts so they go survivorship rather than into probate.

Having seen way too many devastating stories, I firmly believe family law attorneys are for better at creating wills than the real estate types. They are courtroom savvy, and they usually walk thru all the dirty family laundry, making sure the executor has an easier time managing the adult son living in the basement.
 
Mad Mike said:
Always remember that POA dies with the donor, you must act before the final hour. I also suggest people get joined on all financial accounts so they go survivorship rather than into probate.

Having seen way too many devastating stories, I firmly believe family law attorneys are for better at creating wills than the real estate types. They are courtroom savvy, and they usually walk thru all the dirty family laundry, making sure the executor has an easier time managing the adult son living in the basement.
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Too many widowed mothers let the son live in the basement long enough for them to become a dependent. Just been through it. The will wasn't worth the paper it was written on.

I've been asked to be an executor but the family situation is such a chit show I have to decline. It isn't my responsibility to straighten out a mess that can better be fixed before death. Once you start acting as an executor it's very difficult to back out. I'm recommending they go with a bank or trust company to administer the will. It keeps it from from becoming personal.

Get an estate planner involved and distribute the wealth when you can. However if you give away everything and need something back will you get cooperation? Families like to screw their own.

Leaving money in trust for kids has a danger in that when little Johnny turns 21 is he responsible or on crack. I know a guy that crashed his Christmas present into a bridge before New Years. RIP.

A good lawyer advised "Don't try to rule from the grave"

If not mentioned, the rules on Cap Gains changed in late 2016. Gains on the family home start accumulating after death.
 
mimico_polak said:
So...following my surgery I realized I am an idiot and currently do not have a will for me and my wife.

We don't have a lot of assets (house, some bank accounts, RESPs, RRSP, TFSA) etc but I think it's time to get this lined up.

Anyone have a recommendation? Ideally same guy would do our HELOC to the house as well as I want to get the funds and I don't want to put this off any longer.
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Before we went to Tibet in 2019, we got ours done from here: Pricing

Read a bunch of reviews and the things that attracted me to them were the consistent good reviews and lifetime free updates. For context my Mom changed her will 3x in 10 years at $250+tax each time. We paid $1500 for a couples will and changed ours 3x in 2 years! Fast, easy and gave us good advice. They do almost everything online and we just went in for the wet signatures.

I also needed to get some Independent Legal Advice to deal with some financial transfers and we used them as well. Very smooth and easy process.

After being the executor for my Dad's estate, I was certainly thankful he had a good will and his affairs were in order. It still took some time to close off his estate, but it certainly made it much easier for me to attend to everything with minimal effort.
 
Relax said:
Shouldn't the heirs be happy they got anything at all?
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There's always someone that's butt hurt.

The hardest part was defining how to provide cash to the kids in case both me and my wife pass prior to their 18th bday.

Typically they get the full estate value / # of kids at 18...but the lawyer advised us that throwing a few hundred thousand at the kids at 18 may not be the best idea.

Since we have already set up their RESPs, we're putting 20k/kid at 18, 20k/kid at 20, and 20k/kid at 22 with the remainder divided by 1/3 at 25 years old.

Mind you if I pass first, wife can change that as she sees fit, and vice versa.

It was a good experience where I had to really dig through the paperwork, figure out what's what, etc.

If anyone wants the 'Will Intake Form' just shoot me a DM and I'll send it to you. It's pretty standard as I've seen the same one from a few lawyers, but lets you get the info lined up before it's needed...and eventually it will be needed.

EDIT: As @GreyGhost said above, in theory they should be happy...but there's always someone that feels slighted because they 'deserve more'.

A good tactic to make sure someone doesn't contest that they were 'forgotten' is to put in a token amount (let's say $100) into the will. It shows that you did think of them when of sound mind, and their argument goes out that they were 'forgotten and missed out'.

But as others have said...have a good enough lawyer and the will isn't worth the paper it's written on. Similar to a pre-nup. Many stories of pre-nups not holding up in court as the ex's lawyer is good enough to contest it.
 
crankcall said:
I would say that depends a lot on circumstances. If you had put extensive care into elderly parents and find they left everything to a HareKrishna cult , you are allowed to be disappointed.



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I guess it depends on whether they took care of them because they loved them or because they saw it as an investment.
 
Relax said:
I guess it depends on whether they took care of them because they loved them or because they saw it as an investment.
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Yeah mean the parents taking care of the kids or the kids taking care of the parents? lol
 
crankcall said:
I would say that depends a lot on circumstances. If you had put extensive care into elderly parents and find they left everything to a HareKrishna cult , you are allowed to be disappointed.



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You can bet on Cults having very good lawyers.

Fact: If a kid lives in mom's basement and never works, she feeds and clothes him, pays for his car expenses etc he can claim to be dependent and that will stand. While one would think a court would say he already got his share of the estate it actually works the other way. He can claim and get more because he doesn't know how to fend for himself.

Prepare to spend well into the six figures to fight the case. Also the court can decide who has to pay the tabs.

If you see your kids into their thirties you know if they are good with money or not. If they're good with it they won't need yours. If they're not good with money they'll only waste yours. Spend it on yourself.

Seriously, do estate planning and give stuff to those that will appreciate it. They get something and you get to see their smile.
 
The last thing I want is inheritance from my parents. They worked their butts off their whole lives and and should spend or donate every last cent of it. My mom does have a nice place up north which I would consider buying off her, so she can have more capital to enjoy her retirement, but she already has enough coin, so she can send it all to the grandkids or charities. My brother and sister are the same way - we all rejected my Dad's inheritance and it went to my Mom instead.

Same thing with our wills - it all goes to our nieces and nephews and some to charities.
 
shanekingsley said:
The last thing I want is inheritance from my parents. They worked their butts off their whole lives and and should spend or donate every last cent of it. My mom does have a nice place up north which I would consider buying off her, so she can have more capital to enjoy her retirement, but she already has enough coin, so she can send it all to the grandkids or charities. My brother and sister are the same way - we all rejected my Dad's inheritance and it went to my Mom instead.

Same thing with our wills - it all goes to our nieces and nephews and some to charities.
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Can I possibly be one of your nephews?


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So we were just quoted $750-800 for two people for a will with a lawyer here. No additions after this.

I tend to lump lawyers in with funeral directors in terms of “value to the customer” and have equal contempt for both. My wife just swore at me when I said “let’s just use an online one”. Our will would not be complex. We have no kids. We just need survivor conditions and joint conditions, both of which are standard in terms of half the estate going one way, half the other if say we both pass in an accident. We are common-law but that doesn’t seem to be an issue with will construction.

For some morbid reason this also led me to look at funeral services from Costco. $1000 for their lowest priced casket…..I’ll get three banana boxes duct taped together thanks.
 
jc100 said:
So we were just quoted $750-800 for two people for a will with a lawyer here. No additions after this.

I tend to lump lawyers in with funeral directors in terms of “value to the customer” and have equal contempt for both. My wife just swore at me when I said “let’s just use an online one”. Our will would not be complex. We have no kids. We just need survivor conditions and joint conditions, both of which are standard in terms of half the estate going one way, half the other if say we both pass in an accident. We are common-law but that doesn’t seem to be an issue with will construction.

For some morbid reason this also led me to look at funeral services from Costco. $1000 for their lowest priced casket…..I’ll get three banana boxes duct taped together thanks.
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My grandma wanted a cardboard box and buried in the woods. Not allowed in Ontario. You have to pay as they don't want bodies in the woods (and cynical me also thinks funeral homes are donors).
 
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