Mississauga Wills & Estates Law Blog

When deciding what will happen to your assets after your death, you may want to make sure that you pay attention to one asset in particular -- your Mississauga business. Perhaps you have already done some planning for everything else but still need to make arrangements for what will happen to your company after you pass away. There is no time like the present to make sure that you attend to this vital aspect of your life in order to avoid potential estate litigation in the future.

You probably spent a significant amount of time growing your business. You now need to carefully consider its fate after your demise. The options are many, and you may need some assistance determining the best course of action. More than likely, you want to ensure a smooth transition that limits the potential for costly delays and decisions that could jeopardize its continued success.

It can be challenging enough for young, or even middle-aged, Ontario residents to understand the value of a will or trust to dispose of their property after their deaths. Understanding that death may not be the only event under which estate-planning documents could be useful may be even more of a challenge. People tend to forget that there could be a time when they lack the necessary capacity to make decisions for themselves due to an accident or injury.

Under these circumstances, families could face time-consuming and expensive litigation in order to gain the right to make decisions for an ailing and incapacitated loved one. However, by executing powers of attorney, that could be eliminated. Ontario residents could benefit from executing a power of attorney for personal care and a power of attorney for property.

Putting off planning for one's final days is not uncommon. Many people procrastinate on making the difficult financial and familial decisions that come with writing a will. This leaves many Ontario planners scrambling to throw estate plans together when they are given a terminal diagnosis or if their health takes an abrupt turn for the worse. The lack of oversight in many of these quickly administered wills can lead to confusion, family conflict and estate litigation.

For example, one individual with many assets and a feuding wife and children had a sudden health turn. While in hospice, he asked a lawyer to help him draft and update his will and trust documents. After he suddenly passed, his wife was displeased with the decisions and, knowing his cognitive function was diminishing when he signed the documents, opened a case against the estate.

One of the decisions some people make when planning the distribution of their assets is to include a sizable charitable donation. Including charitable giving in an estate plan can be a great way to give back, though it can raise some estate administration considerations. For example, Ontario tax codes and legal steps should be taken into account when preparing for such a gift.

The first step for someone planning to donate some of an estate is to clarify these plans in a will. This can have some benefits to beneficiaries as well, since it can reduce liabilities when it comes to probate. However, these benefits are easier to access when a will clearly specifies the wishes to donate assets and thereby receive the proper tax deductions.