Wills and Estate Planning
We all leave a legacy; some in the hearts of family and friends, some in the next generation we have influenced. Your legacy represents the values meaningful to you during your lifetime.
For most people, their will is a way of looking after the people they care about. Making a will and planning for end of life are important steps in supporting your family and carepartner(s) by alleviating some of the stress and burden of decision making.
Writing and reviewing your will on a regular basis is an important task. To ensure that you have a valid will, we strongly recommend enlisting the services of a professional.
Why should I prepare a will?
Your will outlines how you wish to distribute your assets after you pass, whether it be to your children, spouse, friends and/or charitable causes. It allows you to specify where your money, investments, real estate and other property will go, including cherished belongings like jewelry or artwork. As part of your will, you can also set up trusts for minor children, and appoint them a legal guardian.
What happens if I die without a will?
Under provincial law, the government distributes your assets for you if you have not prepared a valid will. In this case, your estate can only be administered to family, and any dependent children will be appointed a guardian by the court.
If you have a spouse and no children, your estate would go to your spouse. If you do have children, then the distribution of your estate would depend on whether you have children in common with your spouse, or if they are your descendants only. If your children are minors, their share is held in a government trust until they reach 19. If you have no spouse or children, your estate is distributed to your family in the following order: parents, siblings, nieces and nephews. If no relation is found following this, your assets go to the government.
What is probate?
Every will names an executor, who is the individual or company responsible for submitting an application to the court to determine the validity of your will. This process is called probate. All estates over $25,000 generally need to be probated. Whether or not a will must be probated also depends on the financial institutions that hold assets within an estate. Some agencies require a will to be probated before allowing the funds or property they hold for the deceased to be distributed.
Certain fees may be charged depending on the size of the estate, up to a rate of 0.14% for large estates.
Preparing a Will
There are certain formalities you need to follow when making your will. Although legal advice is not required, you may want to consult a lawyer, estate planning professional and/or a notary public to ensure that you have drawn up your will correctly. A well-prepared will ensures lower costs, fewer mistakes and deficiencies, and minimized taxation. If you want to leave a gift to charity, legal aid is especially important.
The formalities:
- wills must be in writing
- wills must be signed and dated at the end by the will-maker, in the presence of two witnesses
- witnesses must not be beneficiaries or spouses of beneficiaries, and must be of legal age
- will-makers must be of sound mind
- will-makers must not sign under duress, coercion or undue influence
Lawyers generally recommend reviewing your will every five years, or with any new change in the family or beneficiaries. It is also recommended to sign your initials on every page of your will.
Other Methods of Administering Your Estate
If you wish to reduce taxes and probate fees, you may want to consider distributing your property in other ways. Many holdings can be assigned a beneficiary, such as life insurance, tax free savings accounts and retirement savings plans. This money cannot be disposed of by means of a will.
Other property may be held in joint tenancy, including homes, bank accounts and motor vehicles, which is signed over to the co-owner in the event of your death. Many couples will hold all of their assets jointly and designate each other as beneficiaries so that on the death of one spouse, all assets go to the other, even if they have children together.
You may also consider establishing a trust before your death. Property held in a living trust is not considered a portion of your estate, and is not subject to probate fees. However, other fees may be involved with setting up and managing a trust.
Planned Giving
You can benefit from tax minimization by including charitable gifts in your estate planning to organizations like Parkinson Society British Columbia (PSBC). By considering a gift to PSBC, you are providing for our programs, services and research contributions. Whether your estate is large or small, a gift to PSBC in your will can make a lasting impact on individuals with Parkinson’s disease, caregivers and families.
Options for planning giving:
- Bequests
- Gifts of Life Insurance
- Gifts of Registered Plans
- Charitable Remainder Trusts and Annuities
- Gifts of Real Estate
- Gifts of Securities
For more information on leaving legacy gifts to Parkinson Society British Columbia, visit www.parkinson.bc.ca/donate/estate-planning.
This content was published in the Fall 2018 edition of our quarterly magazine, Viewpoints. The content was accurate as of this publication date.