In today’s ever-changing regulatory environment, ensuring that your assets are conserved and distributed in accordance with your needs is vital. Protecting your estate is not just for the wealthy. Yes, an ‘estate’ can be a large mansion but it can also be a modest bungalow. In either case, it is important to protect one of your most important assets.
Estate planning includes asking yourself questions such as:
- Who would you like to leave your most valuable assets to?
- How would you like to allocate these assets?
- Would you like them to be paid out immediately or once your beneficiaries reach a certain age?
- Would you like them to be paid out in a lump sum or through payments?
These are just a few of the things you must consider. It is wise to think about these aspects carefully before committing to a plan. Benefits to estate planning include:
- Minimizes taxes paid out from your estate.
- Mitigates complex legal work involved in transfer.
- Saves time and money for your loved ones.
What happens when you don’t create a Will?
Your Will is the most vital element of your estate plan. Without a Will, you allow the government to decide how to allocate your assets.
Other consequences include:
- Increased legal fees and taxes.
- Assets divided amongst family members in a priority sequence you may not agree with.
- Your assets may go directly to the province should you have no living relatives.
- You are not given the opportunity to donate to philanthropic causes you support.
We all know that death and taxes are the two things that are certain in life. With proper estate planning with the help of an Alliance advisor, you can alleviate the burden of both of these certainties.