Order a complimentary copy of

'Estate Trust and Will Planning Guide'

This guide was developed to assist you in organizing your affairs when deciding how to arrange your estate to reduce taxes and probate as well as in distributing your assets to your heirs.  You should be able to complete the first section on your own including “Personal Details”, “Family Information”, “Documentation” and “Present Inventory of Your Estate”.  You may wish to consult a financial advisor or tax expert when calculating “Payment of Debts, Taxes, Probate and Expenses” and “After Tax Value of Your Estate” depending on your special circumstances.  The “Decisions Record” is not a Will.  These are the decisions that you want to make regarding the Will and/or Trust Agreement and you should consult a lawyer to have the proper documents completed and have the consequences of each decision properly explained to you.

 

Most of the document should be self-explanatory, as some helpful hints have been added in the shaded areas to explain and assist in completion of the section.  Since the purpose of the guide is to help you organize your thoughts many sections have insufficient space to allow you to provide a complete list, for these areas you should attach a separate sheet and summarize the list on the appropriate line. 

 

You may wish to have a complete net worth statement completed with a financial planner including a comprehensive list of assets, as this would be helpful in completing this guide and organizing your estate.  The list of assets would also be helpful to the executor when distributing the residue of the estate.

 

If you consult a Financial Advisor, Tax Expert and a Lawyer these professionals will be able to add value to the preparation of your final Estate Plan, Trust Agreement and Will.

 

This guide should be reviewed annually and as changing circumstances require. 

 

You can obtain copies from:

 

Gregor McDonald, CFP

Vision Financial Planning

 

Beacon Financial Group

20 Main St

St. Catharines, Ontario L2N 4T4

Phone: (905) 646-2210

Fax: (905) 688-9635

E-mail: gm@gregormcdonald.com

Estate Planning is about providing peace of mind that on death or disability, there won't be too much of a financial or emotional burden on your family. An estate plan may include the following elements:

• Will
• Power of Attorney
• Trusts
• Charitable Giving
• Estate Freeze
• Buy-Sell Agreement
• Living Will
• Funeral Plan

Notice that with the exception of a Buy-Sell Agreement (when funded with life insurance) your financial advisor does not have a financial interest in any of the above elements. For this reason they may be perfectly suited to providing a neutral perspective on the matter and can work with other financial professionals who perform the key tasks.

Other elements may directly involve your financial advisor such as:

Insurance
In-Trust Accounts
Tax efficient transfer of investment accounts

You will note that I have used the term "financial advisor" in the above statements; that is because I view a financial advisor as transaction oriented and a financial planner as a process oriented advocate. I have acted as both to clients as determined by them in our initial discovery meeting. As a Fee for Service financial planner I would not recommend specific product and in turn sell that product and subsequently earn a commission.

 

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