A couple of months ago, I had one of my high net worth families in for a Wills and Estate consultation. Getting them to agree to the meeting was not an easy feat. They had just went through this exercise a couple of years ago with a prominent law firm in Toronto and didn’t want to waste their time. The meeting which ensued inspired me to write this blog.

I encourage all of my clients to go through this process, regardless of how up to date their estate plan is. The reason? I have yet to have a client leave one of our meetings without making a significant change to their current plan...

What appears to be a clear misconception in the high net worth community is that updating Wills, Trusts, and the overall estate plan is purely the job of the lawyer. Lawyers are vital to the process, but often times the overall financial picture of the client is not well represented when your financial advisor is not included.

We have a large team of Chartered Accountants and tax planning specialists who provide comprehensive financial plans and projections for our clients. Having these plans, and projecting family and business assets out into the future is key to being able to plan an estate. In many cases, getting a Will drafted is one of a clients only interactions with a lawyer over their lifetime. Whereas clients will work with us over multiple decades, resulting in hundreds of contacts and conversations. We have the relationships in place to be able to ask the hard questions, which is critical to structuring a truly comprehensive plan.

Estate planning is often a back burner issue for clients. “It’s not happening today, so I will deal with it tomorrow…” Clients often worry about a percent here, and a percent there, but ignore the potential for massive financial loss by not having a well structured estate plan. Unfortunately, every day people around the world experience life’s tragedies. The mess that can be left for your loved ones if not planned properly can be devastating. Perhaps a large amount of wealth is lost to taxes, or a family falls apart over the division of assets. I have seen it happen first hand, and all issues that followed were avoidable.

Will and estate planning is a service we offer where we bring accountants and lawyers to the table to consult. It takes only an hour or two, and the benefits are proven to be invaluable. I have included RBC Wealth Management’s guide book to Wills and Will Planning. It covers the points outlined below and is worth a look if you are having second thoughts about your estate plan. If you would like to set up a meeting to discuss your financial and estate plan, I welcome the opportunity!

• Passing away without a Will
• Issues to consider when planning your Will
• Testamentary Trusts
• Preparing your Will
• Reviewing your Will
• International and multiple Will
• Challenging a Will

I hope you found this useful,

James