What is Estate Planning and who should consider it?
Your estate is the sum of your lifetime of hard work, smart investing and sensible financial planning. It is your greatest legacy to your loved ones.
Estate planning allows you to protect the wealth you’ve accumulated over your lifetime while helping you to better manage your family’s financial future. No matter how young or old you are, how much wealth you have, whether you’re married with children or are single, everyone can benefit from developing an estate plan.
It not only gives you the peace of mind of knowing your wishes are in place, it can also reduce the taxes and expenses of your estate, as well as make the transition of your assets to your named beneficiaries a quicker and smoother process.
Sue Foley is a Certified Executor Administrator (CEA) and has the knowledge and experience in these areas to help her clients.
Many Canadians think of Estate planning as only a will. At Hartry Foley Financial, we think of it as establishing and protecting your legacy. Hartry Foley Financial has a successful history of helping individuals with their estate planning needs. Many clients wish to direct their monies toward specific beneficiaries, and most wish to avoid paying the CRA and lawyers anything. An Estate plan will effectively decrease the amount of tax payable, and will also provide you peace of mind that the estate distribution goals will be met.
A comprehensive financial plan can provide a road map to greater financial and emotional wellbeing.
What are the benefits of estate planning?
Planning your estate helps minimize many of the concerns that may arise when you pass on. Without a plan, your legacy may be unduly affected by estate fees, or it may take years to pass on your estate. It’s also important to communicate your wishes to your family and named bene ciaries to avoid confusion, hurt feelings and family discord.
By Planning Your Estate, You Are Helping To:
- Protect your capital from taxation so more of your wealth can go to your named bene ciaries
- Pass on your wealth to your named bene ciaries according to your wishes
- Minimize family conflict by letting your loved ones know of your wishes
- Enable certain assets, such as segregated funds, to bypass probate (the process by which a court formally approves a will as the valid and last testament of the deceased person)
- Minimize taxes and fees by structuring your wealth in a tax-ef cient manner
- Structure a portfolio of assets that may help protect the con dentiality of your named bene ciaries and keep your
estate as a private family matter - Avoid estate freezes and the delays that occur when your assets are tied up in the court system
- Structure your wealth to avoid the concept of “afluenza”, which occurs when adult children do not have the experience to manage sudden wealth