Over the course of the last decade I have helped my clients write a wide variety of wills. Some of them are touching and include letters to family members letting them know how much they loved them. Other wills have included spiteful wishes.  One will had a husband leave money to the person who had mowed his wife’s grass while he was out of town.  Another gentleman who loved scotch gave elaborate wishes for the type and amount of scotch that should be drank at his funeral.

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One of the most difficult decisions any parent will ever have to make is who should be the guardian of their children if they are no longer alive. The inability to answer this one question is why most people with minor children do not write a will.

Okay, lets get the elephant out of the room. No one will over raise your children as well as you can and will. We will never be able to replace you. That said, who is the second-best person to raise your children, if it is not you or your spouse?

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It can take weeks to receive a Grant of Probate from the Alberta courts, and Executors are usually under pressure from beneficiaries to wrap up the estate quickly.  As a result we often meet Executors who are in a hurry to sell the house or other property in the estate. This is particularly true if the real estate market is in the seller’s favor.

Executors and beneficiaries don’t always want to wait until they’ve received the paperwork from the court and this can be a...

We recently had a client call our office asking a question we hear all the time… “What happens if my father dies owing more money than he has in assets? Will I be personally responsible for paying his debts if I am his Executor?”

You will not be personally liable for your father’s debts when he dies. You may however, be taking on a difficult estate where you will be required to negotiate with creditors and possibly even place the estate into bankruptcy to deal with...

We have clients call our office all the time asking “I hear everyone talking about Capital Gains. What is it and what happens when I die?”

A capital gain is the increase in value of your capital property. Capital property is an investment or other asset that produces income, or an asset that if sold would produce a profit for you. The federal government currently taxes Capital Gains by you declaring 50% of the gain (profit) as income on your tax return. For example, if you...

Everywhere we shop we are encouraged to collect points. From gas stations like Esso and Petro-Canada; stores like Save-On Foods and Hudson’s Bay Company we have the opportunity to collect points with the individual store, Aeroplan or Airmiles. The points are free and many of us use them to buy little luxuries we might not otherwise enjoy. They are an intangible property that we never see but can have value.

I once dealt with an estate where a St Albert grandmother had been collecting...

Many people who do not have a will believe that they can time the preparation of their will like they do an oil change. Unfortunately, dementia, which affects many new patients every year, does not provide adequate warning signs so that you can time the preparation of your documents before you become ill. There is no flashing sign that states “you have 25 days to write your will”. Many times the ship has left the port without anyone knowing that they were headed on a cruise.

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Legal capacity addresses a person’s ability to understand the nature and consequences of making decisions that:

A) are legally binding

B) affect their rights, responsibilities, obligations, and legal entitlements, as well as those of others

Examples of these decisions include entering, buying or selling a home or business; initiating a lawsuit; and executing a Health Care Directive, Power of Attorney, or will. Someone who lacks legal capacity (in other words, is legally incapacitated)...

When a person dies in Alberta without a will, they are said to die “intestate.” If a thorough search for a will turns up nothing and the estate has assets that need to be administered, a person may apply for a Grant of Administration so that those duties may be carried out.

Who May Be a Personal Representative?

Section 11(2) of the Surrogate Rules specify an order of preference when it comes to who may be a Personal Representative and apply for a Grant of Administration. Unless...

Estate planning is strongly recommended for anyone, but when you have young children, the process is especially important. Urgent, even. Not only do you want to provide for them financially, you also need to name a guardian who will raise them in the event that you and their other parent die or are otherwise unable to care for them.

If you haven’t done this yet, you’re not the only one. Over 60% of parents have yet to name a guardian for their minor children. For some, it’s...