A properly drafted and executed Will is one of the most important elements of your estate planning. It allows you, not others, to control your assets and to choose the right person to distribute your estate on death. It helps you to take care of your children and significant ones. It also reduces emotional and financial burden on your family and limits government interference. Errors and inaccuracies in Wills can result in money- and time-consuming litigation, frustration of your family members and breakdown in relationships.

DLegal wills & estates lawyer will help you to ensure that your wishes are respected. We offer sophisticated estate planning solutions for unique situations and affordable Will Kits for typical Calgary families. To make the Will drafting process less time-consuming and affordable, we created our easy-to-use Wills & Estates questionnaires for you. When you ask DLegal lawyer to draft your Will, our services include:

• Assessing the information you provided and determining estate planning options appropriate for you;

• Drafting your Will based on your instructions;

• Meeting with you to review your Will;

• Assisting you with execution of the Will and preparing Affidavits of Execution;

• Advising you on storing and caring for your Will.

When you wish to make changes to your Will, you may think about execution of a Codicil or of an entirely new Will. Whether you need to create a Codicil or to redraft a Will depends on the changes you wish to make. Come and see our wills lawyer to learn what works better for your estate planning purpose.

Wills become effective only upon death. But who will manage your property and finances when you are alive but incapable of administering your affairs as a result of illness or disability? If you do not have an Enduring Power of Attorney, your loved ones may have to spend time and money to apply for a court order allowing them to take care of your property. Instead, the Enduring Power of Attorney allows you to appoint a trustworthy person to manage your property for your benefit and to take care of your family’s well-being when you have time to think it over. It saves time and money to you and your family.

There are two major types of an Enduring Power of Attorney, namely a Springing Enduring Power of Attorney and a Continuing Enduring Power of Attorney. The Springing Enduring Power of Attorney becomes effective only at a specific time in future (for example, when you reach a certain age) or when a specified contingency (such as mental incapacity) occurs. The Continuing Enduring Power of Attorney becomes effective as soon as it is signed, to the result that both you and your appointed attorney have the authority to handle your finances immediately.

Do not wait until unforeseen circumstances happen – ask DLegal Law Office to help you with your Enduring Power of Attorney. Our estate planning lawyer will draft your Enduring Power of Attorney based on your instructions and personal circumstances, explain its nature and effect and help you with its execution.

A Personal Directive (also known as a Living Will or Advanced Medical Directive) ensures that your wishes regarding personal and medical care are respected when you are no longer capable to communicate them. Without a Personal Directive, your loved ones may have to apply to the court for a guardianship order or to rely on the Public Guardian.

A properly prepared Advanced Medical Directive allows your agent (or personal representative) who knows and respects your values to make personal decisions for you. You can leave complex instructions in your Living Will regarding such things as your medical treatment and donation of body organs, where you live and with whom you associate. If you are a guardian of a minor, a Personal Directive allows you to appoint a person to take over the care and education of a minor until another guardian is appointed or you regain capacity.

One important goal of Testamentary Trusts is to delay the distribution of property on death or ensure that the estate is properly managed for the benefit of a person or a group. For this purpose, an individual (a Settlor of a Trust), may wish to transfer his/ her property into trust and assign a reliable person (called a Trustee) to deal with such property on the individual’s death. The Trustee manages the property held in trust for the benefit of one or more individuals or organizations (who are Beneficiaries of the Trust).

Testamentary Trusts may serve various purposes. One may wish to create a Testamentary Trust for the benefit of minor children. Testamentary Trusts for Minor Children are set to ensure that a reliable person will take care of the property you leave to minors, to provide for care, maintenance and education of a child and to control the time when the kids receive the property from the trust.

Another goal of a Testamentary Trust may be to take care of adults with disabilities (Trusts for Disabled Adults) or of the spouse (Spousal Trust). Testamentary Trusts can also be used to preserve assets of an estate, for example where a recipient of the estate lacks financial experience to manage the property, or when one wants to protect the property from claims of creditors or matrimonial property disputes.

Our testamentary trust lawyer is here to help you. We will be glad to answer your estate planning questions and offer testamentary trust solutions suitable for you.

No matter whether the business is big or small, an entrepreneur needs to know what happens to it if bad things occur. This means that, in addition to taking care of his or her personal assets, a business person may want to ensure that the business continues on the owner’s death, or the family will be able to sell it without delays. As a result, a business owner may want to think about specific provisions in the Enduring Power of Attorney and in the Will to ensure that the business is properly managed when he/ she lacks capacity to make important decisions and the share in business is transferred to his/her successors on death. Additional considerations arise when the business is incorporated or there are business partners involved into it. DLegal Estate Planning legal practice includes business succession planning. Feel free to contact us whenever you need help with business succession.

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