3 Important Estate-Planning Tips

Real-life examples say these three estate-planning tips are VERY IMPORTANT. Give this video two minutes!

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 Okay, truly important video. I sat down and made notes about all the estate-planning/estate-settlement issues people have shared with me over the last five years, and here are three tips that resulted from that exercise. Yes, I’ve already said this, but this is important stuff. It really is. These tips will help you to avoid challenging issues that just keep hitting people over and over again.

1) Name back-ups for your executor appointments and your Power of Attorney appointments. So important. Please do it! Life happens. People move, they get sick, they die or just a flat-out say no, comes your way when the time arrives. If your one and only choice can’t serve, the courts may have to step in.

C’mon. That means delays, costs and frustrations. Have a plan B. I’m about to add a plan C to mine! Takes an hour to think all this through, but could save months of trouble later. 2) Check your beneficiary designations. RRSPs, RRIFs, TFSAs, pensions, life insurance. Keep the selected beneficiaries up to date.

Has there been a divorce? A death? A birth? A falling out? Mistakes here happen all the time. Get on this review after every year and after every major life change. One of the easiest estate-planning wins out there. And 3) This one we’ll discuss further in an upcoming podcast soon, but be careful with joint-ownership decisions.

People are starting to slap a kid’s names or kids’ names on a house, title or an investment all the time now, without any thought. “But Dave, it makes things simpler and we can avoid probate.” In theory, but in practice it can be a minefield. You might trigger capital gains taxes. You could expose your assets to the child’s creditors or lawsuits or divorce.

And trust me, it absolutely can create family fights about who really owns what. Joint ownership can be very useful for sure, but consult with an estate-planning expert here. Otherwise, this “shortcut” could become a very long detour. I hope my shirt didn’t distract you from these important messages.