Ontario Estate Administration Tax (EAT) 2015 changes

The beginning of 2015 saw a dramatic change in how estates in Ontario are administered. The stated goal of the legislative change is to “enhance compliance” – which really means an attempt at collecting more tax. The process of court certification of a will that gives the executor (officially known as an “estate trustee) the […]

Certified Executor Advisor – added qualification for Dave

A Certified Executor Advisor (CEA) is an accredited specialist advising Canadian executors using a team-oriented networking approach. CEAs will likely have expertise in one or more of the disciplines required by executors and, by taking the CEA program, gain a practical level of knowledge in all remaining areas.  Their relationships with experts in these other […]

Delegating your decision-making ability

Clients are sometimes confused about the various aspects of estate planning terminology.  A key concept to understand in any comprehensive review of your financial plan is that of incapacity – the eventuality that you are intellectually or physically unable to make decisions affecting your finances or personal care.  While some people have detailed wills that […]

Estate Planning In The Digital Age

The rapid onset of digital everything means that many people have wills that may be out of date.  Whereas traditional will planning dealt mostly with hard assets, an increasing portion of handling an estate deals with digital assets such as online accounts, online assets or even online businesses. I know that if I died, there […]

Planning for disabled family members

A number of client families have a member who is considered disabled for either tax or benefit purposes.  The purpose of this article is to review a few of the relevant disability planning issues. 1. Age and capacity – For a person who is under the age of 18 the parent normally makes all the […]

Estate planning for life stages

As we age, our estate planning needs change.  Here are some things to consider at different stages. 18+ and still dependent on parents You might think parents can make health care decisions for you, but this changes when you turn 18.  With the accident rate high for this age group, families should consider having a […]

Registered Disability Savings Plans (RDSPs)

Mackenzie Financial is part of one of Canada’s largest companies and is one of the few institutions that has launched a RDSP.  Administering this type of plan is relatively expensive, requires significant systems programming and since these plans are only a few years old, they are almost all small accounts. They have produced a helpful RDSP […]