Helping Clients Plan for an Unexpected Disability
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!
Estate Planning Security: Have It Before You Hit the Sand
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!
Cornwall Estate Planning Lawyer Offers Thoughts for an Aging LGBT Community
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!
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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.
Have Those Difficult Conversations Now: What Are Your (or Your Loved One’s) Wishes?
Note: This is the 3rd 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:
- 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?
- 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.
- 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?
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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, 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.
Cornwall Wills and Estates Lawyer Asks, “Will Your Small Business Survive after Your Death?”
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.
Let’s pretend that April 30th doesn’t exist!
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 30th?
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.
Your Cornwall Lawyer on Cornwall Tonight With Amanda Logan Speaking About Why and How to Appoint Guardians For Your Children
I was recently on Cornwall Tonight with Amanda Logan and Cogeco TV Cornwall was gracious enough to post a clip of my interview with Amanda. Check it out at the Cogeco site here, or on You Tube here.
The video will give you a quick idea of what many of my seminars are like, but it also gives parents an idea of why and how to appoint guardians for their children. I hope you enjoy it.
Share Your Stories to Make Those Family Heirlooms Truly Priceless
As an estate planning lawyer in Cornwall and area, I have discussions with clients all the time about the assets they will leave behind to their loved ones after they pass away – their investments, their real estate, and their personal items in their home. Although personal items normally have the lowest monetary value, these items are often priceless to certain people.
When I talk to clients about their wills and estate planning, I stress the importance of leaving a legacy for your loved ones that is about more than just the money in the bank and the “stuff”. The stories that people have to tell are equally important and should be captured and shared. It is the telling of your stories that creates sentimental value in a personal item and makes that item a family heirloom, whether it be valuable in monetary terms or not. This was recently made very clear to me.
Allinotte Law Office has expanded, and with the expansion, things are looking a little empty and the walls seem bare. I need some art work and prints to cover these bare spaces. Conveniently, my parents have just done some work at their house and have taken some of their pieces down and were looking to store them or get rid of them. So I went to take a look to see what might work at my office. I walked away with some items that are very special to me and to my family.
Two of the pieces were crocheted doilies that my mother had framed several years ago. These doilies were made by my maternal great-grandmother when she was a girl in the Netherlands. My great-grandmother passed away in her nineties over twenty years ago, so these items are likely close to a century old. My daughter is named after my great-grandmother, so I will pass these pieces on to her when she is older.
The other two items that are priceless to me are two charcoal sketches that belonged to my maternal grandfather. They were sketched in the early 1940s and are of a mine and a castle in the Netherlands. Although I will likely never see the places in the sketches (if they are even still standing), looking at them makes me feel closer to my grandfather. My son has the same name as my grandfather (although he is actually named after his great-grandfather on my husband’s side, but that is another story!), so I will likely give these sketches to him later in life.
In addition to being aesthetically pleasing (and filling up the empty spaces), I now have these pieces that I will see every day that belonged to my relatives who are no longer with us. They are family heirlooms to me and I will treasure them. But if I didn’t know the stories behind them, I could have easily passed them over. At one time, the doilies were yellowed and folded up somewhere and those charcoal sketches were in a drawer or a box. So I thank my mother for sharing the stories about these items with me. I encourage you to look around at your important possessions and to share the stories about them with your loved ones so they too can see that these items are priceless.
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.
Love Stories for Valentine’s Day
For Valentine’s Day I thought I would share this lovely post by my colleague, Candice Aiston. Candice is a lawyer (and a friend) who is an Estate Planning Attorney for families in Portland, Oregon. Wherever you are and whomever you are sharing your Valentine’s Day with, I wish you a wonderful day.
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Love Stories for Valentine’s Day
by Candice N. Aiston
In my adult life, I have learned a lot about love, and I guess the biggest thing I’ve learned is that love is not a feeling, love is the things we do. Do you remember what you thought about love when you were younger? I remember thinking that love must be thrilling, exhilarating and blissful. My ideas about love probably started with some Disney movie, and then continued with 90210 and whatever other TV shows and movies I was into as a teenager. Although I heard from many grown-ups in my live that “love is in an action”, I didn’t really grasp that until I was older.
You know what else I’ve learned about love? I’ve learned that martyring myself doesn’t prove my love for someone. I’ve learned that taking great care of myself is a way of loving my family. I’ve learned that sometimes, when it comes to my kids, I don’t have to say yes to every single thing. They might not understand my love now, but they will when they are older. I didn’t always understand that my parents loved me, and I’m sure there were several years when they didn’t feel very warm and fuzzy about me, but their acts of love continued – making sure I was fed, clothed, educated, and given opportunities – and I can see that today.
The truth is, most of us are suckers for love stories, but not the unsexy stories that focus on real acts of love. We like romance. And when it comes to our kids, we enjoy those special warm and fuzzy moments like Christmas or birthdays, but we don’t feel warm and fuzzy about the loving acts that we do every day. Changing a diaper is a loving act, trust me. (Consider the alternative.) Going to work every day is a loving act. Making sacrifices to raise your kids according to your beliefs is a loving act. Sometimes, sacrificing the feel-good moments for the greater good is a loving act (like when you have to say no to something your kid wants to buy, because you are spending that money on something more important, like contributing to your retirement account).
And here are some love stories that I see in my line of work every day:
~The spouses who execute healthcare directives, so that one spouse is not left agonizing over important medical decisions.
~The spouses who organize their assets so that a surviving spouse doesn’t have to go to court to gain access to them.
~The working spouse who buys a life insurance policy so that a stay-at-home spouse is not left penniless and hopeless if something happens.
~The parents who start planning for retirement and end-of-life care early, so that theirkids are not overly burdened with their care later in life.
~The parents who execute a KidsCare Plan, so that their kids are always with the right people, no matter what happens.
~The parents who ensure that their family always has quick access to financial resources and are never left paying thousands of dollars to get access to the money they need.
~The parents who make sure that the kids’ inheritance is safeguarded until they are through college so that they have every opportunity in life.
~The parent who makes sure that their child always has an inheritance, even if the surviving spouse remarries.
~The parents who record a special message to their kids, so that their kids always have guidance, even if the parents are no longer there.
And there are so many more. Estate Planning is the ultimate act of love – ensuring that your family is cared for even if you’re not here. It probably won’t give you that warm fuzzy feeling that you get when you see your kid on her first ride at Disneyland, and you won’t get any I-love-you’s from your kids for doing it, but you’ll know that your loved ones will always be taken care of, no matter what happens in life.
That’s what love is all about.
Candice N. Aiston is an Estate Planning Attorney for families in the Portland, Oregon area. She helps loving parents to prepare their families for a lifetime of security, prosperity, and guidance. If you would like to receive her free report, “The 9 Common Planning Mistakes Parents Make,” please visit http://candiceaistonlaw.com/.
Get Your Legal and Financial Affairs in Order in 2011
As you may know, I write a column for one of our local community papers, the Seaway News. Here is an article that was recently published on their web site. For the original article, please click here.
If you are interested in getting more information on getting your legal and financial affairs in order, you can attend my Busy Parent’s Legal and Financial Boot Camp on Thursday, February 24th at the Cornwall Public Library. For more information, visit my Coming Events page by clicking here:
Get Your Legal and Financial Affairs in Order in 2011
The start of a new year is the perfect time to review and evaluate your important documents. We’re approaching tax time, so you’ll need to organize all your financial documents anyway. Why not get it done now? Investing a few hours will provide you with peace of mind about your financial and legal security.
Some key components to get your financial and legal affairs in order include:
1. Review your estate plan
I recommend that everyone have a Will, and if you don’t already have one, consider setting up an appointment with a lawyer. Reviewing all of your assets and documents should help you prepare to meet with your lawyer.
If you already have a Will, make sure you (and your loved ones) know where the originals are located. Review it annuallyto ensure that the decisions you made still work for you and your family. Contact the individuals you selected as your guardian and executor and make sure they’re still able to take on these roles, if needed.
If you’re making the conscious choice not to complete a will, you should still review your assets and beneficiary designations. This means pulling out all of your Deeds, policies, benefit statements and other information about your assets and where they would go in the event of your death or incapacity.
2. Make sure that someone can make decisions for you if you cannot
A Power of Attorney for Personal Care allows you to choose someone to make your health care decisions if you are unable to do so yourself. While a “living will” is not really a legal document in Ontario, you can indicate in your Power of Attorney for Personal Care your specific wishes regarding end of life decisions and other important matters.
A Power of Attorney for Property allows you to choose someone to make financial decisions – and to deal with your property – if you were incapacitated. Think about what would happen if you suddenly were unable to sign cheques or make bill payments. If you haven’t appointed someone, your loved ones would need to bring a court application to be appointed as the Guardian of your property, which is expensive and time-consuming.
3. Get your financial and legal documents organized
It’s extremely important to “get your affairs in order,” As part of my estate planning process, I provide my clients with a Peace of Mind Personal Inventory, a tool to record all their important information, from their doctor’s contact information to their office security code. There are a lot of things that most of us store ‘in our head” that our loved ones would need if we were gone.
Don’t wait until someday–resolve to get organized today! To make the process easier, I’m offering $150.00 off all estate planning fees for clients who book an appointment before the end of February, 2011. Call Allinotte Law Office at 613-933-7720 to book your appointment today. Please mention this blog post when you call for an appointment.
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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.
