Estate Planning

In order to effectively minimize the taxes owing on death, estate planning should be started early on. We take a multifaceted approach to estate planning which may include:

• Estimation of taxes owing on death
• Understanding your wishes for how assets should be split between your beneficiaries
• Developing a strategy for funding the tax on death
• Review of wills to ensure that certain tax planning strategies may be implemented
• Estate freezes and family trusts to reduce the tax on death
• Thawing and re-freezing
• Wasting freezes
• Maintaining control over assets

Probate Planning

Wills in Ontario which are required to be probated are subject to an Estate Administration Tax of 1.5% on the value of the estate over $50,000. There are many potential strategies which can be implemented while a person is alive which can reduce or completely eliminate the need to pay the Estate Administration Tax on death. Working closely with your estate lawyer, we would potentially suggest one or more of the following strategies:

• Joint ownership of assets with a spouse (real estate, investments, bank accounts)
• Dual wills (primary and secondary wills)
• Ownership of assets through a bare trust
• Alter Ego Trust or Joint Spousal Trust
• Appointing beneficiaries or a successor owner on registered investment accounts.