Wills and Estates Lawyer, Mississauga

Wills & Estates Law

Life is full of uncertainties and the inevitable. As with everything else in life, prior preparation and proper planning always helps. Estate Planning means paying what you owe and taking steps to make sure what you own passes to your family or others according to your wishes after your death. The most common method of estate planning and the most popular is making a will.

Wills

A validly executed will sets out your own personal wishes and directions regarding the disposal of your property to your beneficiaries after death, whereas, in intestacy, or dying without a valid will, the laws of intestate succession govern, and it may or may not reflect your own personal wishes with respect to the disposal of your property to your loved ones.

Although there are many ways to make wills, certain statutory requirements need to be followed for them to be valid. Two Ontario statutes, Part V of the Succession Law Reform Act (dealing with dependent support) and Part I of the Family Law Act (dealing with property rights of married spouses), place limitations on the testamentary intentions of a will by allowing dependant support claims and matrimonial property claims.

YFLaw Professional Corporation will advise you of all the formalities required to make a valid will and the steps needed to take to reduce exposure to estate administration tax.

Custodians for Minor Children and Guardians of Property of Minor Children

The painful decision affecting any parent who plans to determine who shall have custody of any minor children after death comes within the purview of the Children’s Law Reform Act. This and the appointment of a guardian of a minor child’s property, can be effected by a will. YFLaw Professional Corporation can help you in these circumstances to adopt the correct procedure to ensure your child, your most cherished possession, is well protected and in safe hands.

Powers of attorney

This part of estate planning is governed by the Substitute Decisions Act. Powers of attorney can be created by you to grant powers over your property or personal care to another person as a substitute decision maker while you are alive.

Power of attorney for property

A valid power of attorney for property permits the person you appoint to make decisions with respect to your property when you become mentally incapacitated of managing your affairs, if specifically stated as such. It could be a continuing power of attorney for property or a non-continuing power of attorney for property.

There are important issues regarding the preparation of a power of attorney. One such is whether it will be effective immediately or made effective at a future time upon a specific triggering event, upon the grantor (the person who makes the power of attorney) becoming legally incapacitated. Careful drafting is needed to prevent future legal repercussions of a finding of legal incapacity. In some instances, assessments by medical practitioners or a certificate of incapacity made under the Mental Health Act is required to establish the grantor’s (the person who makes the power of attorney) legal capacity.

YFLaw Professional Corporation can help you with the formalities regarding the proper preparation and execution of powers of attorney for each situation and circumstances.

Power of attorney for personal care

A valid power of attorney for personal care allows the person you appoint to make personal care decisions regarding your health care, nutrition, shelter, clothing, hygiene, or safety when you become unable to make such decisions for yourself. A power of attorney for personal care becomes effective only when the grantor becomes incapacitated. In regard to health care matters, the Health Care Consent Act applies and sets out substitute decision makers who can give or not give consent to a medical treatment.

It is very important to address these and many other issues when drafting power of attorney for personal care as complex legal issues are involved in this very sensitive area of law. YFLaw Professional Corporation can assist you in these situations, being mindful of the sensitive and emotional nature of such matters.

Living Wills or Health Care Directives

A Power of attorney for personal care with instructions for medical treatments applying to an extensive number of medical scenarios is a living will. The Substitute Decisions Act and the Health Care Consent Act set out the governing provisions of law in this regard. We can help you in your matters pertaining to such situations.

Trusts

A trust is created when property is transferred from one person to another person who agrees to hold it for the benefit of another third person or persons. It is an equitable obligation which binds the person who holds the property, called the trustee, to hold the trust property in a fiduciary relationship for the benefit of a beneficiary.

A trust can be created by the intentions of the parties or by operation of law. The instructions or rules of a trust can be made in a will, which is a testamentary trust or a deed of trust which is an inter vivos trust. It is very important that trusts are drafted properly, encompassing the intentions of the person who sets the trust and the applicable law relating to each situation.

YFLaw Professional Corporation can help you with this useful estate planning tool, to reflect your intentions, wishes and circumstances, including income tax considerations where the trust is treated as an individual for income tax purposes. The following are various kinds of trusts which is included in our services, and about which we can advise you, unique to your own circumstances.

• Spendthrift Trusts
• Henson Trusts
• Joint Partner Trusts
• Qualifying Spousal Trusts
• Alter Ego Trusts
• Charitable Trusts

Probate & Estate administration

There are situations when a deceased person’s will names a certain person or persons as estate trustee or trustees, who will acquire the power to deal with the assets of the dead person’s estate after the death. A certificate of appointment of estate trustee with a will is issued by the Ontario Superior Court of Justice upon an application in such situations. Also, when there is no person named as an estate trustee in a will, an application must be made to the Ontario Superior Court of Justice for a certificate of appointment of an estate trustee without a will, to administer the estate. When the Ontario Superior Court of Justice issues a certificate, a deposit must be paid equal to the estate administration tax, also known as probate fees. This involves conducting a preliminary investigation to track the assets of the deceased to determine estate administration tax. According to the Estates Act, estate administration tax is not paid on the entire estate within Ontario in some instances. This is where proper legal advice regarding multiple or split wills matter.

YFLaw Professional Corporation can help you in such situations with carefully planned out procedures to ensure a smooth and affordable administration of the estate.