Estate Planning
Proper estate planning should, at a minimum include: a Will, a Power of Attorney for Property, and a Power of Attorney for Personal Care. But good estate planning doesn’t end there. There are lots of other things you should consider. Just as you make TO DO lists in your personal and business life, you should make TO DO lists to deal with your death.
In no particular order:
Power of Attorney for Personal Care
Think about is how you want to be treated if you should become seriously ill. That Person who has the authority to direct the doctors (the Power of Attorney for Personal Care) should know what you want. There are lots of places that can help you put this into words. I suggest you start with the Five Wishes program for ideas. Once you’ve figured it out, talk to your family so they know what you want.
Inventory Your Assets
Take an inventory of all your stuff. Make lists. Decide to whom you’d like to give things to. When I’m with a client I have to ask this question. I dread it because if they decide to start dealing with each thing in the Will, it makes my work so much harder.
Nevertheless, if a client says they have nothing special, I don’t let it go at that. If I’m at the client’s home, I look around and point at something that catches my eye. Then I ask about it. This one time I’m sitting at the dining table with the client and her two adult children. I ask the question. The children roll their eyes. On the wall above the client is a collection of carousel horses. Those horses are lovely I say. What about them? She shrugs; kids roll their eyes. Later as we’re wrapping up, I ask her if she has any questions. She says: I want so and so to have the horses. The kids are like “what!?”. When I come back a few days later to sign off the Will, the only thing she’s interested in is making sure I put in the horse collection. All I can think is I’m glad it wasn’t the parrots that caught my eye!
Look out for your pets
All joking aside, single people should worry about what will happen to their pets. It’s inhumane not to. Providing for a pet in a Will is, frankly, no different than providing for young children. Appoint someone to look after the pet and make sure there’s money to cover the expenses. I don’t consider that eccentric. I “inherited” a cat once. My friend’s mother died and all of a sudden my friend developed acute cat allergies! Regrettably no trust fund had been set up for it and I ended up footing the bills for this rather unpleasant animal.
Intangible Assets
An often forgotten asset is Airmiles, Frequent Flyer Points and the like. Frequent flyer miles and other points are a liability for the issuer so be aware that they make it complicated to bequeath them. In fact, by some estimates, 25 to 30 percent of accumulated miles end up expiring when the "owner" dies, letting issuers off the hook for the cost of redeeming them. Check the fine print of your issuer’s policy in the program rules sections of their Web site. Many policies DO NOT allow for any transfer. Others allow the transfer but charge fees for it.
Need Help with your Estate Planning?
If you need help with your estate planning contact myself or any Wills and Estates Lawyer. My goal is to deliver personalized high quality Wills and Estate Planning services in a direct, approachable and cost effective way. I implement the efficient use of technology to reduce or eliminate bottom line costs to my clients.
For more information visit my website at www.hunt-law.ca
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