Creating a Will is an essential part of any estate plan but is not the only item to consider. Here are a few important items to consider that we recommend to our clients, which go above and beyond a basic Will document:
1. A basic estate plan consists of a Will, Enduring Power of Attorney and Personal Directive, which all cover different scenarios. We strongly suggest that everyone should have at least these planning documents.
2. Your Enduring Power of Attorney is a document that appoints your financial decision maker (called an “Attorney”) if you are alive but have lost the ability to make your own financial decisions. Your Enduring Power of Attorney may provide detailed instructions, directions and restrictions to your Attorneys relating to your assets and your financial management.
3. Your Personal Directive is a document that appoints your decision maker (called an “Agent”) if you are alive but have lost the ability to make decisions relating to your care, treatment, living arrangements and other personal matters. Your Personal Directive may provide instructions about specific scenarios, such as whether you want to remain in your home and your wishes about whether or not to receive life support.
4. It is important to understand what property to which your Will applies. Some assets pass to beneficiaries outside of your Will. Examples include most RRSP’s, RIFFs, and life insurance. Typically, banks and life insurance companies will only follow those directions you provided to them when you opened these accounts or policies, where you designated a beneficiary upon your death. They will not, and are not bound to, follow the directives outlined in your Will. Once you have completed your Will, it is important to review these as well, to ensure the instructions you have left to your bank and insurer reflect your wishes.
5. Your Will would rarely contain an exhaustive list of your property, as your assets will significantly change over time – the goal of your Will is to create a document that will be relevant for a number or years, and does not need to be constantly updated. However, this also means that your executor is given little information in your Will to assist in finding and dealing with your assets. In our experience, a lot of time, effort and cost is expended by executors trying to track down the assets of the deceased. In the interest of saving time and money, it is important, therefore, to create a “cheat sheet” for your executor. This would include a description of all of your real estate assets, bank and investment account information, and life insurance policies. It is also helpful to provide login information and passwords for online banking and emails. Even if the “cheat sheet” is out of date when your executor needs it, they are at least given a place to start looking.
6. Legislation, common law and drafting practices change over time. Even if you have already made a Will, Enduring Power of Attorney and Personal Directive it is a good idea to have your documents reviewed periodically to make sure that they are up to date and meet current standards. That being said, an update to your Will should only be necessary when a major life event occurs – the birth of a child, the death of an executor or beneficiary, or a major change in your wealth and assets could all be reasons to revisit your estate plan.
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A Partner at Beaumont Church LLP in Calgary, Dan Hawkwood comes from a long line of farmers and ranchers in the Calgary area and brings the experience of his rural upbringing to his practice.
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dan.hawkwood@beaumontchurch.com
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