1. Basics of Estate Planning
Housekeeping
Introduce myself
Introduce topic
Goal: to get a good, basic understanding of what you need to do to prepare for the future
Presented by Butler Wills and Estates Consulting Services

2. Be proactive!

3. Why bother with estate planning?

4. Two sides to estate planning
What will happen
Passing away
What might happen
Incapacity
There are two sides to estate planning – what we know will happen (death) and what we don’t know for sure will happen, but might (incapacity)
Define incapacity
There are 3 basic documents that we all should have to address these estate planning questions
What they all have in common is that we make them while we’re healthy but don’t use them until we need them

5. What to do Will Enduring Power of Attorney
Advance Health Care Directive

6. A will is a document that sets out your instructions for distribution of your estate after you pass away.
Start with will
Definition
We are going to compare what happens when you die with a will, and what happens when you die without one, to illustrate some of the main things a will does for you

7. Sounds simple, but… Your will must be in writing – not videotaped.
Must be witnessed by two people who are adults and not beneficiaries.
Hand-written wills are valid in Newfoundland and Labrador.

8. You must have mental capacity to make or change your will.
It doesn’t have to be perfect.

9. If you have no valid will…
What happens?

10. Distribution of assets
With a will
Without a will
You decide who gets what from your estate
If you are married with no children, your spouse gets everything
If you are married with one child, half goes to your spouse and half to the child
If you are married with more than one child, 1/3 goes to your spouse and the rest to the children
Your will sets out who gets what
With a will:
You decide
You can include anyone important to you, such as friends, parents, charities
You can give away specific things to specific ppl
Without a will:
Court decides who gets what
Spouse doesn’t get it all if you have kids

11. Intestacy law says that “child” includes biological and adopted
All ages included
Does not include step-children
In a previous slide, I mentioned that the children will share some of the estate on intestacy.
Includes biological and adopted but not steps.
If you make a will you can include who you want, as long as you meet dependent relief requirements.

12. People are generally not aware that in NL, common laws have ZERO inheritance rights.
In Newfoundland and Labrador, common law spouses have no inheritance rights whatsoever.

13. Choice of executor You choose who will be your executor
With a will
Without a will
You choose who will be your executor
You can choose an alternate in case your first choice can’t do it
The court will decide who will be appointed to look after your estate
Sometimes nobody comes forward
With a will:
Choose who you want
Discuss your values and goals with them
Choose an alternate
Decide whether they’re to be paid & how much
You can smooth the way by leaving instructions and powers
Without a will:
No say in who steps up
Maybe nobody steps up
No say in how much they are paid
Always more court applications for permissions

14. A court process that confirms the will and the executor appointment
In NL, the cost is 0.6% of the estate
What is Probate?
Definition of probate
Not every will is probated. Depends on:
Type of assets
How assets are held
Value of estate
How good the will is

15. The executor submits the original will, an inventory of the estate, and a set of documents that describes the deceased’s family, as well as other information

16. Not every will must go to probate
Depends on:
The type of asset
How assets are held
The value of assets
Any issues with the will itself

17. What’s in the estate and what’s not?

18. In the estate
Anything and everything the deceased owned in his or her own name.

19. Not in the estate Joint property where the other owner is still alive
House, cabin
Bank account
Assets which have a named beneficiary
RRSP
RRIF
Life insurance
Pension

20. Should you try to
Avoid probate?

21. Beware of adding kids to your title
When adult children are added as joint owners of their parents’ assets, this does NOT avoid probate!
An important caution about adding kids to title
Risks to parents
Tax problems
Doesn’t even avoid probate
Causes disputes on a regular basis

22. The risks of adding kids to assets…
You could lose your home or other asset if your child:
Gets divorced
Is sued
Has a business failure
You cannot sell or mortgage your home without your child’s consent

23. Who can challenge a will?
Married spouse
Children under 19
Adult children with a handicap that prevents them from earning a living
Who can challenge a will?
Contesting a will
Some ppl automatically entitled to support:
Married spouse
Minors
Handicapped adult children
In other situations, ppl can contest if:
No mental capacity
Undue influence

24. Enduring Power of Attorney

25. You appoint someone to make financial and property decisions for you if you become unable to do that for yourself.
Define EPA
Can be immediate or springing
Handing over a lot of power – describe some of the things an attorney can do
Can be personalized to your situation
A good tool when what you want to give is access, not ownership

26. What if you don’t have one?
With POA
Without POA
You choose who represents you
You place limits if you want to
You give instructions about matters that are important to you
You have no say in any of it
The court may make an order naming someone to take charge of your decisions
The Public Trustee may take over your decision- making
With EPA/HCD:
Your choice of representative
You place limits
You give instructions
Without:
No say in who speaks for you
No control over what people can do
Can be extremely invasive
expensive

27. Advance Healthcare Directive

28. You appoint someone to make health, medical, and personal decisions for you if you become unable to do that for yourself.
A chance for you to present your views on what you want to have happen medically if you can’t speak for yourself
Includes end of life decision
Prevents emotional disputes between the kids

29. You can leave instructions about:
end-of-life care
Living at home vs living in care
Organ and tissue donation
Restrictions on procedures or treatments you don’t want

30. What if you don’t have one?
With AHCD
Without AHCD
You choose who represents you
You give instructions about matters that are important to you, including end-of-life decisions
You have no say in any of it
The court may make an order naming someone as your guardian
Your family may argue over your care or treatment
With EPA/HCD:
Your choice of representative
You place limits
You give instructions
Without:
No say in who speaks for you
No control over what people can do
Can be extremely invasive
expensive

31. How we can help

32. In-house seminars Will drafting How we can help:
Will review of existing will, given in writing if requested
Drafting of wills, epa, hcd
No billable hours

33. One-time consultation
Apply for probate
One-time consultation
We do probate and admin applications
One time consultation on any estate related matter such as:
Should I sign a release
Review of executor’s accounting
Legal opinion on validity of deceased’s will

34. Executor rescue Books and kits
Executor rescue – we will take on executor tasks to give as much or as little help as the executor wants
Books and kits and guides

35. Be sure to check out our blog at www. estatelawcanada. blogspot
Be sure to check out our blog at for tons of information on estate planning and many other topics!
Point out blog address
Invite any questions or comments on anything we covered in the presentation
Questions about estates in general?
Questions?