Beneficiary

Decorative pattern

Estate Planning

Discuss final expenses before it’s too late

If clients plan for final expenses, it’ll make things easier on their children.

By John Lorinc |April 4, 2014

7 min read

Decorative pattern

Estate Planning

What to ask before taking the executor’s job

A client’s close friend asked him to be her executor. Honoured, he agreed. But now he’s come to you, admitting he doesn’t know what to do. All too often, executors accept the job without understanding the scope of the work, the complexity of the estate or the dynamic of the testator’s family—all of which can make the job more difficult.

By James Dolan |April 4, 2014

3 min read

Decorative pattern

Estate Planning

Client collapses trust to fund daughter’s education

Elsa Koertig, 48, is a single mom and schoolteacher in Moose Jaw, Sask. She earns $65,000 annually and her daughter Ingrid is heading to university. Ingrid’s straight As and clean sweep of provincial and national science fairs caught the attention of Ivy League schools, and her heart’s set on Princeton. She’s earned generous scholarships, but even after factoring in RESPs, the family faces a $10,000 annual shortfall. Elsa’s coming off a messy divorce and is saddled with mortgage, car and other debt payments. But if she could access the $100,000 stock-and-bond portfolio her deceased parents left her in trust, she’d be able to send Ingrid to Princeton. Elsa’s foggy on the details. She knows how much is in the trust, and remembers her parents saying they wanted it to fund her retirement. Can she tap the trust sooner?

By Dean DiSpalatro |March 7, 2014

4 min read

Decorative pattern

Tax News

Can clients leave kids their pensions?

If clients aren’t explicit about designations, there can be big consequences.

January 17, 2014

3 min read