One of the many important decisions you need to make when making a will is choosing an executor for your estate. This is the person who will wind up your affairs. Choosing poorly may not only affect the distribution of your life savings but may also affect your family’s well-being after you are gone. The [...]
If you’ve written a will—congratulations—you are amongst the half of Canadian adults who say they’ve written a will. If you are amongst the other 50% of Canadians, read here to find out why you don’t want to die without one. But here’s a question for everyone who does have a will — is it up-to-date? [...]
Have you ever thought about using an online service to write a will instead of hiring a lawyer to draft one for you? After all, dozens of websites offer to make will-writing fast and easy so maybe you’re asking yourself, how bad can it be? Bad. We knew of a man who decided to save [...]
Do you know what happens if you die without a will? Here’s the story of one family who learned the hard way. In this family, the grandmother (who had a will) died. While the estate was being settled, her adult daughter died, leaving behind three children in their early 20s. When the daughter died, her [...]
Answering the question of whether you need a life insurance trust first requires an explanation of what it is. A life insurance trust is a trust established by the settlor to deal with the life insurance proceeds that are payable upon his or her death. It ensures that the money from a life insurance claim [...]
Power of Attorney (POA) documents are incredibly important. Without them, should you no longer be mentally or physically capable of making decisions on your own, the courts and/or governments determine what happens to you and your property, and who gets to make those decisions. In a previous post, we looked at the reasons for needing [...]
A Power of Attorney (POA) for personal care is a legal document that gives someone you trust the right to make medical decisions on your behalf, if and when you are no longer mentally or physically capable of making decisions on your own. It’s one of the three most important documents everyone should have (the [...]
An insurance trust is a good mechanism for controlling the use and timing of life insurance proceeds following the death of the insured, Toronto wills and estates lawyer Lisa Laredo tells AdvocateDaily.com. Establishing an insurance trust in your will directs life insurance proceeds to be paid to a trustee who then receives and administers the funds to a beneficiary, [...]
January has come and gone but we’re still going on about the New Year’s resolution that should have been at the top of the list for at least half of Canadians — to write a will. And now that it’s February, it’s time to get on it, preferably before you take that next trip (March [...]
Testators should seek professional advice before leaving gifts to charity, Toronto wills and estates lawyer Lisa Laredotells AdvocateDaily.com. “Before you do anything, I would recommend consulting a good accountant who understands tax and estate planning, and also to make sure you have a lawyer who can help you carry out your plan,” says Laredo, principal of Laredo Law. [...]
