Be Prepared

By Tracey Rynard, Associate

It often seems that talking about preparing a  will to most people ranks somewhere between  getting a tooth pulled and medieval torture. Personally, I don’t talk “shop” in my spare time as generally only other estate planning professionals care to chat socially about the legal implications of death and dying.  Come to think of it, I don’t often mention my career choice to new acquaintances at first as it usually immediately spawns the inevitable, “have you heard this one? [insert lame lawyer joke]” to which the answer, if you know any lawyers, is always yes, we have heard every lawyer joke. There are no new lawyer jokes. Trust  me.

 In my personal experience, it is unfortunate how many otherwise organized and responsible people choose to put off estate planning until it is too late.  My suspicions were confirmed in a recent survey reported in the Epoch Time: Majority of Canadians Do Not Have a Signed Will, Survey Shows.  56% of Canadians surveyed reported having no will  (even worse, 71% reported not having any powers of attorney established but I will leave that topic for another post). The top reasons for not completing estate planning? Believing they were still “too young,” not knowing how to get started, or viewing the process as too expensive.

 I know this will be difficult to accept (coming from a lawyer and all) but please do not draft your own will. An experienced estate planning practitioner is worth their fee. They will not only assist you in avoiding mistakes but will discuss with you issues which you may not even consider on your own. For example: 

  • a will is revoked by marriage, or;
  • if you die without  a will your spouse does not automatically inherit your entire estate, or;
  • an RESP will be dissolved on the death of the subscriber and the grant money must be returned, or;
  • a minor’s gift will be paid to the Ontario government, in trust, until the minor is 18.

For many reasons, preparing a last will and testament is a great example of an instance when you don’t want to be “penny-wise, pound foolish.”

 Groucho Marx’s famous last words  were  “Die, my dear? Why, that’s the last thing I’ll do!”

Unfortunately for him and for all of us alive today, death is the inevitable consequence of living.

Be prepared!