(Toronto Star) - With the final season of Succession in full swing, there’s no better time to think about your estate plan — even if your family isn’t at war over a media empire like Waystar Royco.
Debbie Stanley, founder and senior estate administrator at ETP Canada, says a common misconception is that you need to be ultra-wealthy to even begin thinking about an estate plan.
Broadly speaking, an estate plan is comprised of legal documents — such as your powers of attorney for both personal care and property — and your will. But you will also want to include details about your financial assets and end-of-life wishes, says Stanley.
So is there a right time to start estate planning?
“When people ask us that and are in their forties and fifties and sixties, we always say, yesterday was the right time to do your estate plan,” says Alexandre Gauthier, co-founder of ClearEstate, a tech-enabled platform for estate settlements. “But today is the second best.”
Stanley says the answer can sometimes be more complicated. “It’s more about what are your responsibilities and what are your life circumstances?” she says.
For an individual in their twenties and thirties, it very well may be too early to start thinking about estate planning. On the other hand, someone in their twenties who just moved out might benefit from having an estate plan in place. In this case, Stanley says it might be time for such an individual to think about an estate plan just in case something happens to her while she’s not living at home.
“Even though she may not have any assets, it’s more about just making sure her wishes are in place.”
Aside from end-of-life wishes, these can include the names of people who will inherit her bank account or car in her passing.
“Without the estate plan, and for the sake of argument, if she were to pass without a will in place, then we’re following the succession law reform act here in Ontario,” says Stanley.
In the absence of her being married and having children, her parents would be next in line in succession.
The biggest mistake, Gauthier and Stanley say, is to not have an estate plan at all. The second mistake is not assembling a team for help.
“The internet is fantastic, but it can be so overwhelming, so make sure you use trusted sources with the best information for your particular location,” explains Stanley. “If we think of it as a bicycle wheel and all the spokes that it has — lawyers, financial planners, accountants, consultants and estate administrators balance that wheel so that the whole (estate) plan can come together.”
Lastly, Gauthier reminds Canadians to review their estate plans when making major life transitions, such as getting married, filing for divorce, or having a child.
“It’s one of the great acts of love to plan an estate or even name a professional executor because it can get messy.”
By Srivindhya Kolluru | Contributing Columnist
May 7, 2023
