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 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!

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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.

 

 

 

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.

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?

Time To Straighten Up Your Financial Accounts

It’s not uncommon to accumulate things over the years, without taking time to straighten them out periodically. That applies to our finances as well as to our possessions. How many credit cards do you carry? How many stocks and bonds, brokerage accounts, mutual funds, and RRSPs or RRIFs do you own? It’s not just a matter of finding time to keep track of all these different financial assets. Often, these assets are acquired without a clear-cut strategy, so you may own assets with similar investment objectives or that are not compatible with your financial goals. If you feel it’s time to straighten out your finances, consider these steps:

• Make a list of all your assets and debts. List each one individually, so you have a sense of how many different accounts you’re dealing with.
• Go through each one of your investments. Make sure you understand why you own each one. Are you really adding diversification to your portfolio or do you have overlapping investments? Assess the prospects of each investment and decide whether you should continue to own it.
• Look for ways to consolidate accounts. Try to get down to one bank account, one brokerage account, and one RRSP. This can significantly reduce the time needed to review and reconcile accounts.
• Assess your outstanding debts. Do you really need all those credit cards? Consider keeping only one or two cards, so it’ll be easier to monitor balances. Look for ways to reduce the cost of your borrowing. Is it time to take another look at refinancing your mortgage?

Modified from a post from financial-topics.com. For the original post, click here http://www.financial-topics.com/37020/e_article001557073.cfm?x=bg90W4s,bgjH7Mb7.

15 Freedoms You Voluntarily Relinquish Without Adequate Estate Planning

The following is a list of some of the freedoms you choose to give away, not have taken away, mind you, when you neglect your estate planning. A simple will is simply not enough and expressing your wishes to your loved ones is not legally enforceable in any way. Everyone who cares about her or his loved ones and wishes to minimize the suffering of those left behind needs to create and maintain an up-to-date estate plan.

By neglecting to create and maintain an up-to-date estate plan, you voluntarily relinquish your freedoms to:

1. Name the people you want to be able to respond immediately in an emergency to legally step in to care for your minor children if you are unable to do so either temporarily or permanently, and avoid the possibility of having your children taken into child protective services and temporarily placed in foster care until such time as the authorities can locate and approve of a suitable alternative

2. Name the people you want to permanently raise your minor children in the event of the death of both parents and specify how you wish those people to raise your children according to your values and beliefs

3. Name the people you want to manage the financial affairs of your estate for the benefit of your children and their inheritance, especially where they are very young minors, in the event of the death of both parents, often not the same people you wish to physically care for and raise your children, and avoid the potentially very expensive need for a court-appointed guardian for your children’s finances with the requisite regular reports to the court and associated accounting and court costs which can eat up your children’s inheritance over time

4. Choose to whom, how, and when you want all of your assets (your home, your car, your personal property, etc.) distributed upon your death, including at what age(s) you want your children to receive their inheritance, which just might not be a lump sum distributed outright at the less than fully mature age of 21

5. Exclude anyone you would not ever want to raise your children but who might petition the court and the court might otherwise permit to do so, for example, relatives who look good “on paper” but about whom you have information to the contrary or from whose personal values and beliefs yours diverge fundamentally

6. Exclude anyone you would not want to receive distributions of your assets, for example, family members from whom you are estranged or who might be financially incapable of handling their own finances or have problems with gambling, drugs, alcohol, or be involved in lawsuits or divorces to which those assets would be vulnerable

7. Nominate any charities to which you wish to leave a specific bequest, for example, instead of or along with other distributions to certain relatives in the event your other named beneficiaries have died along with or predeceased you

8. Name the persons you wish to receive access to your protected health information, make medical decisions for you in the event of your temporary or permanent incapacity to do so, and speak for your family to express your wishes regarding life-sustaining artificial treatments

9. Name the persons you wish to be responsible for the management of all your financial affairs in the event of your incapacity

10. Specify whether you wish to be an organ donor and specifically of which organs and for what purposes

11. Specify what type of memorial or funeral service you wish to have and what you would like done with your remains

12. Avoid paying the highest taxes levied, both Massachusetts and federal estate taxes

13. Avoid the very public court process called probate, which can subject your survivors to unscrupulous practices by those who prey upon the most vulnerable people in their most vulnerable times, like grieving survivors with new inheritances

14. Avoid the time delays involved in the probate process, which is about 12-14 months in Massachusetts, and temporarily freezes your assets making them unavailable to your loved ones immediately as needed

15. Avoid the inherent financial costs of probate, which are about 5-15% of your estate in Massachusetts in total court costs, accounting and appraisal fees, and attorneys’ fees

This post was originally posted by Danielle G. Van Ess, Esq. on her blog.  You can see her blog here.