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!
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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?
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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.
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.
Are You Planning On Getting Hit By A Bus?
As you know, I do estate planning, which means I talk to clients about what might happen should they die or become incapacitated.
For some reason, the phrase “So, if I get hit by a bus tomorrow …” tends to come up quite often during my conversations with clients. Realistically speaking, many of my clients will have no need for their estate planning documents until they are well into their old age, so some of the things we plan for will never actually happen.
But we do plan for them because, you never know, you just might get hit by a bus some day. And if you did, what would happen?
I’ve been thinking about this for a few days from a few different angles.
The first is that my husband was at a work meeting and one of the topics was planning for succession at his place of work. The complaint was that there was not formal training to mentor those employees who might eventually move up the ladder, so to speak.
When my husband and I talked about that, I said that yes, there needs to be a plan for when people retire, but also, you need to think about people getting hit by a bus (see, it comes up often!). What would happen if an employee/supervisor/manager didn’t show up for work one day? Would people know what he was working on? Could things be picked up where they were left off? Is there essential information about the work place that only that individual knows? These are all things that every work place needs to consider.
See, the thing is, I actually know someone who got hit by a bus. When I worked in Ottawa, it happened. One of the IT employees was walking to work and was struck. He was conscious and so he was able to make a phone call. His first phone call was not to his family, but to his supervisor at work! Thankfully he was ok, but what would have happened if he wasn’t?
Another reason I have been thinking about this is because I knew I was attending a meeting last week and the presentation topic was succession planning for business owners.
It was a great presentation on a topic so many business owners tend to ignore or delay their decision making (sometimes until it is too late). The statistics back me up on this one – according to an October 2006 study by the Canadian Federation of Independent Businesses, over 65% of small and medium sized business owners were intending to retire within 10 years. Of all business owners surveyed, only 10% had a formal plan to exit the business. Some had an informal plan, but over 50% of business owners had no plan at all!
Thinking about your death isn’t exactly fun. But we all have a 100% chance of dying. Hopefully, we won’t get hit by a bus tomorrow (or any day) but it is much easier to plan for it now than to leave our families, our work places and our businesses to pick up the pieces if we don’t have a plan.
The #1 Way To Get Your Wills Done – Fast!
Life is busy and getting your affairs in order by completing Wills, Powers of Attorney, and other estate planning documents (if necessary) can be one of those items on the eternal “to do” list that often never gets done.
But I have the secret to getting your Will done – fast!
What’s my secret?
Plan a vacation.
Nothing makes people more inclined to get things in order than a far away vacation looming in the not so distant future.
Summer time brings endless opportunities for travel – camping, family visits, dream vacations, second honeymoons – many vacations will be had in the next few months.
So we prepare and make lists and get things done and then worry that we left the stove on or the garage door open even after we make our departure.
But what about it something happens to you while you are away? What would happen to your children, to your spouse, to your assets?
Statistics on who does and does not have a Will are hard to come by, but it is estimated that less than half of all adults have a Will or any estate planning documents.
I often get calls from people who want to come in and get their documents completed before their vacation. That is great and I’m glad to help, but if your vacation starts in a couple of days, it may be too late.
So, in addition to getting your passport renewed or buying a new suitcase, here are a couple of other things you need to do before going on vacation this summer:
- Complete your Will. This is essential for parents, as a Will is the only way in Ontario you can legally name who will care for your children in the event you and their other parent pass away;
- Complete your Powers of Attorney for Property and for Personal Care so your family knows who is to make decisions if you can’t make them yourself; and,
- Make sure that you have the proper financial support in place so that your family and/or your business will be taken care of if something happens to you. Most of the time this comes in the form of life insurance, but this may not be the case, depending on your personal situation.
Get all these things done BEFORE heading out on your vacation so you can have peace of mind that, no matter what happens, things are taken care of.
And believe me, you actually DO feel better once you get this planning done. I know because I ask my clients after they sign their documents (which hopefully is not on the same day they leave for a vacation – although that has happened!).
I must credit a colleague of mine for the inspiration for this article. The original article by Michael Licterman appears here http://www.lichtermanlaw.com/index.php/vacation-estate-planning/.
If I Don’t Own Anything, Why Do I Need A Will?
One of the most frequent questions people as me is “Do I need a will?”. When I say yes, everyone over the age of 18 who is competent to make a will should do so, the reply is often, “Well, I don’t own anything.”
Firstly, if you have children, even if you think you don’t own anything, you absolutely need to make a will. A will is the only way in Ontario that you can appoint who should take care of your children in the event that both you and their other parent were to die. I could go on about more reasons why parents need to make a will, but that is the most basic and essential reason.
Secondly, are you sure you don’t actually own anything? Do you have a bank account? Are you entitled to receive recurring income from employment or other sources? Do you own life insurance? Do you have any sort of pension, RRSPs, RESPs, no matter how small? Do you own any investments, GICs, mutual funds, Savings Bonds, etc? Do you own a car, a motorcycle or other personal property? Do you rent an apartment? Is there furniture, a TV, stereo equipment, et cetera in your apartment or your residence? If you answered yes to even one of these questions, you own something.
When you own something, that “stuff” needs to go somewhere if you die. Your will can say who gets your property and who deals with distributing your property (and dealing with your burial and other matters) after you die.
Also, if you rent an apartment or a house, someone will need to clear that out and terminate your lease with the landlord.
If you don’t have anything in place when you die, do you know who would step forward to make arrangements and deal with the items you left behind? Do you know if they would be able to deal with your items without a will? Do you know if they would have enough money to make funeral arrangements? Do you know if they would need to apply to the court to administer your estate (which could end up costing more than the value of your estate’s assets)?
These are all things that a lawyer can talk to you about so you can figure out what it is that you want to happen after your death and make a plan so your loved ones know what to do.
Do you want to deal with this now or let your family deal with it later?
The title of this article came from my childhood clumsiness. I was known for spilling my drink when my family went out for supper. It got to the point that my father would ask me at the start of a meal, “Do you want to spill your drink now, or wait until later on?” He knew I would spill it at some point, so why not get it over with, he joked.
I was reminded of this when someone emailed me recently and asked me how they could convince a loved one that they need to do a Will. I explained to the person what my normal process is for estate planning clients. When I meet with clients, I go through what the law provides for in the absence of a Will. Most people will choose to do something other than what the government has chosen for them.
But the more I thought about the request, the more I realized that the legal reasons why people need to do an estate plan are not the reasons that are going to make them “just do it”. Doing an estate plan is admitting that you might actually die, and for some people, this is hard to deal with. Death and dying are difficult things to talk about, especially with a stranger, and especially a stranger who happens to be a lawyer. Although I feel that I am pretty approachable and accessible, I do understand that going to see a lawyer for many people can be intimidating.
So, we’ve established that talking about death and dying with a stranger, who is a lawyer, is intimidating. Now, let’s look at how an individual’s family would feel dealing with this situation after the passing of a loved one
The family will be shaken by the death of a loved one. In the immediate after math, and possibly even before death, there would be decisions that would have to be made.
If the situation called for the possibility of organ donations or required someone to make financial or personal care decisions for their family member, without an estate plan the family would not know what to do.
After the death, one of the first things that needs to be done is to make the funeral arrangements. In the absence of an estate plan, the family would not know what to do. How would they know what their loved ones wishes were? All these decisions would need to be made by the family without the benefit of knowing what their family member would have wanted.
The next step is to look at how the family is going to deal with the loved ones assets. The family would speak with the bank and any professional advisors that the deceased might have had. One of the first calls is often to a lawyer. If the deceased did not have an estate plan, the family will call a lawyer that someone knows perhaps or they could just pick a name out of a phone book.
So, a family in shock and reeling from the death of a loved one must also be put in the position of talking about death and dying with a stranger.
But it doesn’t have to be this way.
We all could give a gift to our family members by having an estate plan. Only you can do this for your family, because once you are gone, the decisions become theirs to make.
When doing an estate plan at Allinotte Law Office, I make the process as painless as possible. I deal with clients in a caring and compassionate manner and help make the decisions that are best for them and their family and, if applicable, for their business. I invite my clients to bring in their family members to meet me so they know who I am and who to contact in the event that their loved one passes. Because it is not possible to meet everyone in person, I do provide letters to the possible executors of an individual’s estate as well as the possible guardians letting them know what their duties are and how to contact me. Although they have not met me in person, I am no longer a stranger.
But no matter what my process is, I cannot force someone to come in to my office. You need to choose to make that first step. The only thing I can tell you with certainty is that at some point, the issues surrounding your death or incapacity will need to be dealt with.
So I ask you this: Do you want to deal with this now or let your family deal with it later?
The baby that came with instructions
A couple of weekends ago, I had the pleasure of babysitting my little 5 1/2 month old nephew. My parents are away and my sister-in-law’s family does not live in the area, so I was on duty so my brother and his partner could go to a comedy act in Ottawa.
My kids and I were excited to have the chance to spend some time with him, but I was a bit late getting home due to a work issue. When I got home, my nephew had already been there with my husband for about 45 minutes. He was getting a bit fussy, so I scooped him up and tried to soothe him and I ultimately ended up putting him down for what I thought was a quick nap. I was wrong – he slept the entire night! There was no play time at all!
Because I had come home in such a rush, it wasn’t until after he was asleep that I saw the instructions. My sister-in-law is very organized, and had a full sheet of printed instructions about his routine, eating habits, how to change his diaper – it was all there. At the end of the instructions, she let me know where all their important documents were stored in their house, presumably if something were to happen to her and my brother. She wrote “you’ve prepared me well!”.
But there was just one problem. I had no legal authority to keep and care for my nephew in the event that my brother and his partner didn’t come home from the comedy show. If that little guy’s parents had never showed up, I would have had to call the police. Without any documentation appointing me as his guardian, I would not have the legal authority to take care of him until his custody had been decided. There is a very real possibility that he would have to be placed in foster care, even if only temporarily. I don’t know about you, but I wouldn’t want a child I love to spend one minute in foster care when he could be with people who love him.
Unless they have seen another lawyer recently, I know my brother and his partner don’t have an up to date estate plan to deal with their blended family situation. I think my brother might have a will, but I’m pretty sure what is in there no longer applies. I don’t know if my sister-in-law has a will. Yes, just like the cobbler’s children have no shoes, my family members do not have their estate planning documents in order.
I asked my sister-in-law for her permission to write this blog about her. She will read this, so I know she will be taking steps in the very near future to make sure that her family is protected by updating her estate plan and doing a Kid’s Protection Plan to appoint long term and short term guardians.
Do you know what would happen to your children if you and your spouse or partner didn’t come home from “date night”? If you are like my sister-in-law and haven’t appointed long term and short term guardians for your children, call my Client Services Director, Erin McEvoy at 613-933-7720 or click here to set up an appointment for a Family Wealth Planning Session with me.
As a special advance bonus to my blog readers, if you are a parent who owns a home in the Cornwall area and you make an appointment for a Family Wealth Planning Session between now and the end of February, I will give you a $75.00 gift certificate to a local restaurant of your choice. But you have to mention this blog post to get the gift certificate!
I only have a limited amount of spots available and I will soon be opening up this offer to the general public. Once my appointments are all filled, the gift certificate offer will end, so act now to secure your appointment (and your gift certificate!).
Why Parents Need an Estate Plan
As a parent, I know that life is busy. It took me a while to get an estate plan completed, and I’m a lawyer. But here is the thing: it is something you MUST do. Why? Well, read on.
1. Protect Your Children
Having a proper plan will allow you to name both temporary and long term guardians for your children. Right now, without a plan, if you and your spouse passed away, the court would appoint a guardian, and that person might not be who you would have chosen to care for your children. At worst, the person you would never want to parent your children could be appointed.
Also, if you have not appointed any guardians and there is no one locally with authority to care for your children, there is a risk that your children could be placed temporarily with the Children=s Aid Society until this could be sorted out. As a mother, I cannot imagine that happening to my children.
As well, with proper estate planning, you could provide for how you would want your property distributed to your child (and future children) in the event that you both passed away. For example, you could set up a trust so that your child would inherit any property at specified ages, for example, part at age 21 and the remainder at age 25. In the absence of a plan, your property would be held in trust for your child and managed by a government agency until your child reached 18, when all of it would all be distributed to him or her outright. I know that I would not have been very responsible with any large sums of money when I was 18, and most of my clients agree and decide to wait until the children are older for the funds to be distributed.
2. Distribute Your Assets the Way You Want
Your estate plan will also allow you to determine what should happen to your property if one of you were to pass away, leaving the survivor as a single parent. Currently, if the value of your estate is over $200,000, the surviving spouse is entitled that amount. The remainder of your estate would then be divided equally between the surviving spouse and your children. The funds for the children would be held in trust and managed by a government office and distributed upon the child attaining the age of 18. The surviving spouse could only manage those funds if a court application is made and even then, the funds would still require distribution at the age of 18.
3. Appoint a Person You Trust to Administer Your Assets
Aside from all the estate planning issues that come up as parents, your Will can provide for who will administer your assets and property in the event a death of you or you and your spouse. Right now, without any planning, someone you love, even the surviving spouse, would have to make an application to the court to be appointed as the person to administer your estate. Again, this person may not be who you would have wished to make these decisions for you.
4. Provide for Incapacity, or Give Your Loved Ones the Power to Make Decisions
Protecting your children and your assets is not the only important reason to do estate planning. As part of our plans, we would draft Powers of Attorney for Property, and Powers of Attorney for Personal Care. This would allow you and your spouse to make decisions for the other in the event that one spouse became incapacitated. As part of this process we also appoint alternate individuals to act in the event that both of you are incapacitated or there is only one surviving spouse who can no longer handle his or her personal affairs, or medical decisions.
Making decisions for a loved one who is incapacitated without a Power of Attorney is a bit of an unknown. Under the legislation, the spouse is one of the persons entitled to make decisions. However, without a document specifying who will make the decisions and what decisions should be made, there is the risk of disagreements between family members, especially if difficult personal care decisions need to be made. In the event that both you and your spouse were incapacitated or one of you had passed away, things can become even more complicated.
We also can do a Living Will instruction as part of our Power of Attorney for Personal Care. This would allow you to specify any conditions regarding your personal care in the event you were unable to make decisions for yourself, or each other. Many clients choose to include a Ano extraordinary measures@ clause, but you may have some additional conditions you would like to add.
Michele R.J. Allinotte is a lawyer in Cornwall, Ontario who focuses on estate planning, business law, and real estate. You can find out more about her at www.yourcornwalllawyer.com.
