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Wills, Trusts & Estates

Customized Estate Planning Advice To Meet Your Needs

Planning is for every individual at any stage of life and involves planning for death and incapacity. The right estate plan ensures that your wishes are followed after your death and your family is spared unnecessary expense and delay. The right incapacity plan ensures that someone you trust will be in charge of your financial affairs and health care decision making in the event you become incapacitated and unable to manage these things on your own.

The Importance of an Estate Plan

At BKS Law, we will take the time to discuss your estate planning options and fully explain the legal implications of those options, while also highlighting the financial and tax effects. We are experienced at helping individuals and families, including those who are persons with disabilities or members of blended families, to make plans that may or may not involve children from a previous relationship, new spouses, and the preservation of assets from a previous marriage or, in the case of persons with disabilities, government benefits.

In addition, BKS Law can also advise individuals and families with assets outside of Canada as their estate plan must take into consideration cross-border issues related to domicile, forced heirship, and foreign taxes and reporting rules.

Having an estate plan, which often includes a properly drafted will, allows you to:

  • Control how your property will be distributed after death.
  • Choose who will be responsible for administering your affairs.
  • Choose who will act as guardian of your minor children.
  • Establish trusts for beneficiaries with disabilities, who are minors or have other unique needs.
If you do not have a will in place, you lose control and provincial legislation determines how your property is distributed on death, and the result may not be what you expect or choose.

Key Contacts

Related Services

Components of an Estate Plan

An estate plan is more than just creating a will. As part of our estate planning practice, we prepare and advise on a variety of estate planning tools, including:
  • Preparation of wills, testamentary trusts, and insurance trusts
  • Powers of attorney
  • Health care directives
  • Representation agreements
  • Trusts, including Alter-ego, Joint partner and Family trusts
  • Business succession, corporate reorganizations, and estate freezes
  • Probate fee reduction strategies