A will gives you certainty
- Certainty about who will manage your affairs after death; you get to choose the person for that task
- Certainty about how to distribute your property
A will makes it easier for your family or friends to obtain a certificate of appointment (formerly called probate)
- When there is no will, disputes can arise among family and friends as to who should be the estate trustee
- When there is no will, the estate trustee generally has to post a bond to ensure that he or she will properly administer your assets after death
- When there is no will, it generally takes more time to get the materials together to obtain the certificate of appointment
A will makes it less costly to administer your estate
- When there is a will, legal costs to resolve any disputes about the choice of executor are avoided
- When there is a will, there is no cost for a bond if the executor resides in Ontario or elsewhere in the British Commonwealth
- When there is a will, it usually contains sufficient trustee powers to avoid costly legal applications for court approval of the estate trustee’s actions
- Regardless of the cost of your will, it will save you at least that amount when your estate is administered
You get to choose the distribution plan that is right for you
- When there is no will, the government has a statutory distribution regime that may not be what you would have wanted
- When there is no will, the government statutory distribution regime does not give common law partners the same rights as legally married spouses
- When there is no will, the government statutory distribution regime does not give a surviving spouse all of your property if you have children and the distribution of your assets among them may have unintended consequences for the shared ownership of a family home, cottage or other large assets
- When there is no will, gifts to minors are held by the Office of the Public Guardian and Trustee until they attain the age of majority, rather than by a parent or by someone whom you would have chosen
- When there is no will, there is no flexibility to make special provisions where there are children from a prior marriage or relationship
- When there is no will, you lose the ability to build protection for children who need assistance managing money
- When there is no will, there is no opportunity to utilize the preferential tax treatment given to spousal trusts or other tax advantages that may be available as part of an effective tax plan
- When there is no will, outright gifts to children with disabilities under the government statutory distribution regime will usually impair their access to entitlements under the Ontario Disability Support Program
- When there is no will, you will lose the opportunity to minimize estate administration tax on assets that do not require a certificate of appointment of an estate trustee to transfer them to beneficiaries through the use of multiple wills – who wants to voluntarily pay an approximate 1.5% tax on high value assets like shares in private companies and certain real estate, when a will could avoid the tax completely
Do it for your family . . .
They will certainly appreciate a faster, easier and less costly process of administering an estate with a will and you get the comfort of knowing that your affairs will be managed in a tax-effective manner by an executor you have chosen and that your property will be distributed as you have specified