Estate Planning Strategy and Checklist

This month we thought we would address a couple of subjects that are often overlooked, but are of tremendous importance to your family’s future and / or your chosen bequests.

Carefully thought-out Estate Planning will help:

1) Protect your beneficiaries;

2) Identify strategies to reduce estate taxes;

3) Ensure your wishes are respected from the moment you pass away or become mentally incapacitated; and,

4) Establish the individual, or individuals, you choose to act as your executor so that your wishes are executed according to plan.

We have attached a questionnaire here that will help you understand if you have taken the necessary steps to make certain that your loved-ones are protected, or if updates are required to avoid potential problems down the road.

We are also including a newsletter, which was written by members of RBC’s Estate and Trust Services Team.  In this article you will find information pertaining to:

1) The roles and responsibilities of an executor

2) Options for RRSP/RRIF accounts – tax strategy and cautions

3) Options for the trustees of a trust account who may no longer wish to, or become unable to, carry out the duties and responsibilities of a trustee

As always, we are happy to field questions you might have pertaining to estate planning.  We will be hosting a workshop on estate planning in the fall with more details to come later this summer.  Please be in touch if you think we might be of assistance.