My last post was in early June and the topic was unexpected disability.

Ironically, I needed to deal with some of the things mentioned in that email myself shortly afterwards.

On June 21st, my husband hit a deer while driving his motorcycle to work. He is alive and he is now back to normal, but it was rough for a while. Considering that such collisions are often fatal, he is very lucky.

When I got the call from the Ontario Provincial Police that morning, I was a bit of a mess. It was the communications centre that called me so they had limited information on how severe my husband’s injuries were. After falling apart on the phone, I realized I had to pull myself together and make some calls and then head to the hospital.

I called my family and my husband’s family immediately. I also had to call the school bus so that my children wouldn’t be picked up, the school to advise of their absence, my husband’s employer and my staff member to deal with the unexpected absences that day (and beyond). I didn’t have all of those numbers at the ready and flipping through a phone book or navigating an internal phone directory is not something that is easy to do when you are in an emergency situation.

Lesson learned: organize all your emergency contacts

Who would you need to call if a family member was in an accident? Who would need to be called if you were in an accident?

Figure out who that is and organize all those numbers so you can access them easily.

You may also want to save those numbers in your cell phone as “ICE” – In Case of Emergency numbers. Consider that someone other than you might be using your phone to figure out who to contact. Several ICE numbers might be helpful, e.g.” ICE my work”, “ICE home”, “ICE my parents”, “ICE my kid’s school”, et cetera.

Having such numbers at the ready will make an emergency situation much easier to deal with, believe me.

Not knowing my husband’s condition as I drove to the hospital, I wondered if I would need a copy of his Power of Attorney for Personal Care, in case I needed to make medical decisions if he was unconscious or needed surgery.

We wete in the process of amending our estate planning documents, so I wasn’t sure if I had our documents in the safe with client documents or if I had removed them and kept them in my own personal files while I was working on the changes.

So really, I didn’t know where the document was if I needed it. It was somewhere in the office but was not at the ready. Thankfully, it wasn’t needed, but not knowing exactly where it was certainly was not a good feeling.

Lesson learned: keep copies of all important documents at the ready

I have now confirmed the physical location of my estate planning documents in my office, and my staff knows where they are so they can be accessed in an emergency.

I tell clients to do this, but I’ve never done it myself. I’m going to copy our Powers of Attorney for Personal Care and keep them in the glove box of our car. If my husband rides a motorcycle again, I will leave a copy in the tank bag. In an accident, that is the document that is most likely needed.

I have also prepared emergency cards for our wallets, but I know my husband had taken his out at one point when he was cleaning out his wallet. I’m going to make sure that copies of that emergency card is in both our wallets and one is in the vehicles as well, as the emergency card outlines who to contact in an emergency and also tells first responders who to call if our children are not with us. These emergency contacts are the people who have authority to care for our children in an emergency.

I have learned other things from this situation, but I will leave you with those two for now. I hope that my experiences will push you to get things organized so that you are better prepared should an emergency occur.

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Michele R.J. Allinotte is the owner of Allinotte Law Office in Cornwall, Ontario and she helps her clients make the best decisions for themselves, their families and their businesses. Her practice focuses on the areas of business law, estate planning and real estate. Visit www.YourCornwallLawyer.com to get her FREE Peace of Mind Personal Inventory to make sure that your family has all the information they need.

As a lawyer in Cornwall and area who prepares Powers of Attorney for Personal Care documents, I know full-well the ramifications of not planning ahead for an unexpected disability.  Even those clients who understand the importance of estate planning tend to overlook what would happen if they should become unable to care for themselves.  It’s not the happiest thoughts, but the reality of not having a Power of Attorney for Personal Care can make the situation considerably worse for both you and your family.

A major disability can be devastating to an entire family, both emotionally and financially.  Pre-planning for the possibility can reduce some of the heartache that often accompanies these situations.

Medical Concerns

You may assume that your spouse would simply make decisions for you if and when a major problem takes place.  Ask yourself, if he or she really wants to be responsible for some of those decisions. For example, if you were in a coma, how would your spouse react to making the choice of whether or not to stop life support?  Even if your loved ones know your wishes, simply having them in a formal document can remove a considerable burden and amount of potential guilt.

A lawyer who prepares Powers of Attorney for Personal Care can help you to draw up these documents so that your family does not have to make these choices.  The lawyer can also assist by offering insight into situations you likely wouldn’t have considered.  Are you opposed to a blood transfusion?  Are you adamantly against ending life support?  What needs to happen if you become mentally disabled?  Who should be given power of attorney over your other health-related issues generally?

Financial Concerns

Having a major illness or injury is very expensive and can keep you from working during and after hospitalization.  Your lawyer will also advise you on what needs to happen financially if you are unable to take care of your own needs.  For example, you will need a Power of Attorney for Property, as well as to determine how long-term care will be paid for.  Will you need to sell your house?  Will you be eligible for disability insurance?  These are all questions that the lawyer will go over with you.

There are plenty of other considerations that need to be addressed by a lawyer.  From what will happen to your children to where you might end up in nursing care, there are choices that need to be made.  Planning in advance with your lawyer in Cornwall and area will ensure that your wishes are being followed if the time should come.

If you are ready to get started in creating a plan that will protect you and your family should incapacity or disability occur, give our office a call at 613-933-7720 and ask to schedule a Peace of Mind Planning Session.  These sessions are normally $500, but you can come in free with the mention of this article.  However, these sessions are limited to 10 per month so call today!

Imagine the scene—it’s vacation time. You push the umbrella into the sand, watch the ocean waves roll up onto the beach in sublime rhythm. Your kids run out into the water, maybe, toting boogie boards and laughter. It’s the summer – the week ahead stretches out lazily, and all you have to do for the first time in months is just relax and enjoy family time.

You sink into your beach chair, feel the hot sun blazing down on your skin … wait, hot?!

You jump and race up the beach to the nearest phone (unless you are one of those that can’t leave it behind) to call a neighbor, someone, anyone.

You realize you forgot to turn off the stove!

As frightening as that scenario is, there are equally important red-flags that should trigger a similar alarm when preparing for vacation. Take for example the vital questions such as what would happen if you and/or your spouse were killed on the trip? What would happen to your children if you were incapacitated thousands of miles away from home? Have you prepared your will?

The last thing you need to worry about on vacation is what will happen if you don’t come back, and a good set of estate planning documents will keep that worry far from your mind. This typically means setting up a will and a powers of attorney tailored to the unique needs of your family before hitting the road.

Remember, simply writing a few requests down on a piece of paper does not mean you have a plan in place! A will must meet statutory requirements to be ruled as valid in the eyes of a court. Even if that sheet of paper accurately describes your post-mortum wishes, there is no guarantee that the Court will even consider the document. And in Ontario, the only way you can name guardians for your children is by a will.

So, before you slip into your bathing suit and hit the surf – make sure you know that your family is taken care of by planning for the worst and expecting the best!

When it comes to protecting your rights as a member of the aging LGBT community, you should consider consulting a Cornwall estate planning lawyer who can help you make the right choices.  We hear horror stories of life-long partners who are denied access to one another, who lose their homes, or who don’t have access to inheritance upon the death of their spouse or significant other.  Planning in advance can help minimize the chances for these injustices.

There are different ways to protect your partner upon your death:

• Civil Marriage – Same-sex couples in Canada who choose to legally marry have all the same rights as heterosexual couples once they do so.
• Common Law – In Canada, co-habiting same-sex couples have the same rights and privileges as co-habiting heterosexual couples. However, couples who co-habit and are NOT legally married to not have quite the same rights as married couples do. A common law status would make spouses eligible for certain benefits and spousal support.
• Power of Attorney – A Cornwall estate planning lawyer who is familiar with LGBT concerns will likely advise you to go beyond the common law living arrangement to also put powers of attorney in place.  These provide even more legal recourse that allows one partner to be responsible for the other in emergencies.  There are both Powers of Attorney for Property, dealing with financial matters, and Powers of Attorney for Personal Care, and both may be necessary for full protection.
• Wills – In order to circumvent the negative repercussions of a family that is unwilling to deal fairly with a surviving partner, a legal will can be an important legal document.  It can also help speed the probate process and help ensure that your affairs are dealt with in a timely manner.
• Beneficiaries – When setting up a bank account or insurance policy, be sure to clearly name your partner as beneficiary.  Otherwise, biological family members (or even previous legal spouses) may have rights to the money, leaving your partner out in the cold.

Of course, these are just some of the situations that may need particular attention from members of the LGBT community.  There are many, many concerns that need to be considered by all members of the aging generation.  Consulting a Cornwall estate planning lawyer is likely the most efficient and intelligent way to deal with all of these issues.

Ready to get started? Give our office a call at 613-933-7720 and schedule a Peace of Mind Planning Session.  These sessions are normally $$500, but you can come free with the mention of this article.    They are, however, limited to 10 per month so call today!

Are you interested in using this article in your newsletter or on your blog or website?

You can, but please use this complete caption with it:

Michele R.J. Allinotte is the owner of Allinotte Law Office in Cornwall, Ontario and she helps her clients make the best decisions for themselves, their families and their businesses. Her practice focuses on the areas of business law, estate planning and real estate. Visit www.YourCornwallLawyer.com to get her FREE Peace of Mind Personal Inventory to make sure that your family has all the information they need.

Note: This is the 3^rd of a series of blog posts on the difficult conversations we all need to have with our loved ones. This series is also published in the Local Seeker.

In the first post in this series, I recommended starting your difficult conversations with your loved ones with the basic question of “What legal documents do you have in place?” The second post reviewed how important it is to know who is doing what if you (or your loved one) pass away or become incapacitated.

The next part of the conversations is to review what are your (or your loved one’s) wishes in the event of death or incapacity. There are several questions to either ask or answer here:

1. What are long-term care preferences? Is a facility or home care preferred? If a facility is preferred, what amenities, location, et cetera is preferred. If in home care is preferred, at what point should care be transitioned to a facility?
2. What are medical preferences and wishes? What type of medical care is wanted after a diagnosis of Alzheimer’s disease, cancer, et cetera? What are wishes about life support or other end-of-life decisions? I speak to clients all the time about these tough choices and most people have VERY specific wishes.
3. What are funeral or burial wishes? Again, many people have quite specific wishes here and their loved ones should know what those are.

The above three topics can lead in several directions. The most important thing is to have a discussion about all of the “what ifs” and make sure that everyone involved knows what things are important to you (or your loved ones).

It is very difficult to honour someone’s wishes if you don’t know what they are. It also can be a challenge to make difficult decisions without knowing what the deceased or incapacitated person wanted. Lastly, a frank discussion with members of your family about what you want and who is to make the decisions for you can be helpful in preventing family disagreements when difficult decisions need to be made. Although you still need to ensure your legal documents reflect your wishes, having the difficult conversation is essential.

Stay tuned for the final article in this difficult conversations series, but don’t wait for it – get started talking about these issues with your loved ones today!

Are you interested in using this article in your newsletter or on your blog or website?

You can, but please use this complete caption with it:

Michele R.J. Allinotte is the owner of Allinotte Law Office in Cornwall, Ontario and she helps her clients make the best decisions for themselves, their families and their businesses. Her practice focuses on the areas of business law, estates and estate planning and real estate. Visit www.YourCornwallLawyer.com to get her FREE Peace of Mind Personal Inventory to make sure that your family has all the information they need.

You’ve worked so hard for the success of your small business, but have you thought about what will happen to it after you’re gone?  By planning in advance, the small business owner can ensure that his or her wishes are followed should the unthinkable occur.  Not only does this kind of planning make for an easier transition on those left behind, but it also saves money and can literally keep the business from failing altogether.

Your small business is a part of your estate, and just like your home and other assets, planning needs to be done for how it should be handled upon your death.  You’ll want to go over your options with a qualified Cornwall and area wills and estates lawyer (as well as your accountant!) and make your decisions legal and binding with proper documentation.  Of course, you’ll also want to communicate with those individuals who will be charged with following your wishes and keeping the small business running smoothly.

Unfortunately, the death of a small business owner can also spell the death of the business.  Estate administration (also known as probate) taxes and income taxes can be so expensive that the business just can’t survive paying them. Or, the other partners in the business cannot afford to buy the decease’s share in the business, so the business gets sold to a third party and the profits divided.

Laws like this play a role in the fact that small businesses do not typically survive through the generations.  According to The Small Business Review, only about 30% of family businesses make it to the second generation, 12% to the third generation, and 3% to the fourth generation.  Obviously, there are a number of factors involved, but the need to pay taxes and take care of other transitional costs creates a significant burden in passing a business on to heirs.

By planning in advance, you can take advantage of tax reduction planning and limiting (or avoiding) probate taxes. Many of the options available to small business owners can only be utilized before death, not after, so it is important to make plans for your business succession now.

Are you interested in using this article in your newsletter or on your blog or website?

You can, but  please use this complete caption with it:

Michele R.J. Allinotte is the owner of Allinotte Law Office in Cornwall, Ontario and she helps her clients make the best decisions for themselves, their families and their businesses. Her practice focuses on the areas of  business law, estate planning and real estate. Visit www.YourCornwallLawyer.com to get her FREE Peace of Mind Personal Inventory to make sure that your family has all the information they need.

Note: This is the 2^nd of a series of articles on the difficult conversations we all need to have with our loved ones.

In my last article, I suggested the place to start having the difficult conversations about illness, incapacity and death with our loved ones was with a simple question, “What legal documents do you have in place?”

If you or your loved ones have essential documents (a Will, Power of Attorney for Property and Power of Attorney for Personal Care), that is great. If you or they don’t have these documents, get them in place as soon as possible. All adults over the age of 18 need those three documents, at minimum.

I do recommend that these documents are completed by a lawyer, so you can ensure that they fit your situation. Everyone thinks they have a simple situation but that is usually not the case. And even if your situation is actually simple, there are often errors made in filling in the forms or in the witnessing of the documents by “do-it-yourselfers” that will render them invalid or change their meaning unintentionally.

In addition to ensuring the documents are legally valid and reflect your wishes, a lawyer will provide counsel to you about how to make the best decisions for you and your family. One of the decisions to make is who will do what in the event that you become incapacitated or when you pass away.

When someone passes away or becomes incapacitated without any documents in place, one of the hardest things for the family is figuring out who should (or can) take on a role. What can happen can go from the extreme of family members fighting in court over who should be appointed to a complete failure of any member of the family to step forward to act.

If you become incapacitated, someone will need to make decisions about your health care (under your Power of Attorney for Personal Care) and your property and finances (under your Power of Attorney for Property). After your death, someone will need to make funeral and burial arrangements, pay your debts and file your taxes and distribute your assets and property (as your Executor or Estate Trustee).

Who will have each of those roles? You can appoint one person or more than one person for all those roles.

Some things to think about in selecting who will do what is:

• Where does the person live? If they are not local or are out of province, having them in a primary role may prove difficult (and costly);
• If appointing two people, can they work together? Should they perform every action together, or can one make decisions in the absence of the other? What happens if they can’t agree?
• Do you have a “back up” if you are only appointing one person?
• If you are appointing different people in each role (i.e. one person for Executor, another for Power of Attorney for Property, another for Power of Attorney for Personal Care), they will like have to work together. Can they work together? Do they have contact information for each other?
• What will other members of your family think if they do not have a role?

There are many other factors that you should consider but the above are some practical facts that you should start with.

Once you have decided who should do what, it is important to ASK that person if they can take on the role before appointing them.

The next thing is to make sure the rest of your loved ones know why you have chosen this person. Some clients prefer to keep who they have appointed a “secret”, and I respect that decision. However, I do think things will go much more smoothly if there are no surprises and if all these difficult conversations (including who will do what and why) happen before illness, incapacity or death.

I will continue this series in my next column where you will find out more important questions to ask in the difficult conversations process.

Are you interested in using this article in your newsletter or on your blog or website?

You can, but please use this complete caption with it:

Michele R.J. Allinotte is the owner of Allinotte Law Office in Cornwall, Ontario and she helps her clients make the best decisions for themselves, their families and their businesses. Her practice focuses on the areas of business law, estates and estate planning and real estate. Visit www.YourCornwallLawyer.com to get her FREE Peace of Mind Personal Inventory to make sure that your family has all the information they need.

As a Cornwall and area wills and estate planning lawyer, I can’t stress enough how important it is for all parents to create a comprehensive plan that will protect their children should the unthinkable occur.

But what happens if you are divorced and can’t come to an agreement with your ex-spouse as to who should raise your kids if something happens to you?  Should you go ahead and document your own guardianship wishes anyway?  And just whose wishes would hold up in court?

In most cases, if your child’s biological parent is still living at the time of your death and you share custody, your children will be raised by the surviving parent, unless there is some clear reason why that should not happen.

There is nothing you can do about this, unless you (or someone else after your death) can prove that the child’s other biological parent is unfit to raise your child and make a compelling case as to why your guardianship nominations should be honored under the circumstances.

Examples of this might include a severe drug addiction, criminal past or a history of abuse.

However, if this is unlikely, the next best thing to do is name guardians anyway so that your wishes for the care of your children will be known and taken into consideration should your ex-spouse should also pass away before your kids reach the age of 18.

This is especially important in the event your ex-spouse did not legally document his or her guardianship wishes upon passing, as your wishes would then be given priority over, say, an unwilling step-parent (just think back to the Cinderella story for a chilling example of this).

Finally, if you are a single parent and have concerns not only about guardianship, but also concerning your ex-spouse handling any assets you would leave to your kids if you passed away first, I encourage you to meet with an Cornwall and area wills and estate planning lawyer right away so you can protect such funds and ensure they are used for your children’s care only in your absence.

If you need help getting started with this, please feel free to give our office a call at 613-933-7720 and request a Peace of Mind Planning Session.  These sessions are normally $500, but you can come in free of charge with the mention of this article.  Again, call 613-933-7720 to reserve your spot, as my appointment times are limited.

Just as you begin to enjoy the warmer weather that spring brings, it hits you.  It’s tax time!

For most people tax time brings up images of boxes of random receipts and hours of searching for documents.  Trying to get ready to do your tax return or organize for that yearly meeting with your tax preparer is a necessary evil.

What if you could avoid April 30^th?

Imagine this, what if we could use the excuse that we are “too busy” or we were just not organized enough to do taxes?  How many of us would actually get around to doing them?  Not many, I’m guessing!

I know this is true because I hear it all of the time when people put off doing their estate plan!

But here’s the thing…just as Benjamin Franklin said over 100 years go…

“Nothing is certain but death and taxes.”

The thing is, people do plan for taxes each year.  Whether it is because you are expecting to get a tax refund or out of a sense of obligation, you faithfully file your taxes.  But what if I told you that those two critical reasons for doing your taxes are the exact same reasons you should do your estate plan? Let’s explore further…

“I’m too busy to do my estate plan.  I’ll do it later.” Unlike tax season we do not know the exact date that we will die.  But that date will come.  It’s no fun to think about this, but there will be a date where we will die.  If you pass away without an estate plan you will leave a mess for your family to deal with.  Do you really want your loved ones dealing with a financial nightmare or would you prefer to take a deep breath, face your fears, and make things as easy as possible for them?

“I have better ways to spend my money.” Yes, doing your estate plan will cost you money, but here’s the thing.  It could cost your family a LOT more in taxes if you choose not to put an estate plan in place.  Do you really want the money you’ve worked for all of your life going to your tax bill instead of your family?  The bottom line is that you can pay a little now or your family will pay a lot later!

Truth is, we don’t know our life’s “deadline.”  We don’t have a government body like the Canada Revenue Agency looming over us threatening us if we fail to do our estate plan.  But, the consequences that your loved ones will face if you fail to take care of this can be just as bad.

So, once you’ve gotten your documents organized for your tax preparation, why not go ahead and schedule an appointment to discuss estate planning for your family?  Then you’ll have the peace-of-mind of knowing that your family will be taken care of no matter what.

Note: This is the 1^st of a series of blog posts on the difficult conversations we all need to have with our loved ones about illness, incapacity and death.

I do many seminars in Cornwall and area on the topic of estate planning and, more specifically, about Wills and Powers of Attorney. In every seminar I give, I tell people that no matter how “good” your documents are, they might as well be worthless if you don’t talk about the documents with your family or loved ones.

Illness, incapacity, death and dying are uncomfortable topics for almost everyone, so the tendency is just to avoid it. I know many of my clients do stay away from the topic entirely, since I often get phone calls from people who knew their loved one had a Will but never asked about who the lawyer was who prepared it, where the Will was located, or what it said. In many cases, those Wills may never be found. Or, where there was no Will, the family members have no idea what the wishes of the deceased were and thus are unable to honour those wishes.

As someone who is involved in the legal side of incapacity and death, but who has been involved in the personal side as well, I urge all of you to have these difficult conversations now. I hope that this series of articles will help you “tear off the band-aid” so to speak and get talking about these issues – today!

Whether you are an adult who will soon be (or is already) taking care of your elderly parent or whether you are parents of young children, you need talk about these issues with the people in your life who would be called upon if something happens to you. And, if you are going to be acting on behalf of someone else, it is especially important for you to review things so you will know what to do when the time comes.

What are the conversations you need to have? I understand it can be hard to get the process started. While there are many places to begin, a basic place is the question:

“What legal documents do you have in place?”

You need to know if your loved ones have the three basic documents all adults need:

1. A Will;
2. A Power of Attorney for Property; and,
3. A Power of Attorney for Personal Care.

It is important to find out what legal documentation is in place, and also where it is stored so that the documents can be found when needed. It is also important to ensure that your loved ones have the right documents in place before death or incapacity occurs.

I will continue this series in my next column where you will find out more important questions you need to ask in the difficult conversations process.

Are you interested in using this article in your newsletter or on your blog or website?

You can, but please use this complete caption with it:

Michele R.J. Allinotte is the owner of Allinotte Law Office in Cornwall, Ontario and she helps her clients make the best decisions for themselves, their families and their businesses. Her practice focuses on the areas of business law, estates and estate planning and real estate. Visit www.YourCornwallLawyer.com to get her FREE Peace of Mind Personal Inventory to make sure that your family has all the information they need.