LeClair Thibeault
Wills & Estates
Wills and Estates
Failing to create a solid estate plan and directives means your family will have no direction when you pass. In our experience, this can result in huge conflict among family members. Spare your loved ones years of arguments by hiring reliable estate planning professionals.
Wills & Estate Planning
DONE NOW. DONE RIGHT. ®
Effective estate planning means being as specific as possible about the most important things. Your Will and estate plan can be amended as relationships change, new family members are born, and life happens.
Don’t put it off
Many people avoid getting a head start on estate planning because they may believe that it’s too ‘early.’ Others don’t want to think about what would happen after their passing.
Regardless of the reasons for avoiding estate planning, deferring it can only make the process more complicated and contentious. When you work with LeClair Thibeault, our Calgary law firm specializes in making the estate planning process as stress-free as possible.
Will Amendments
Another reason why some people put off having a legal Will written is because they don’t quite understand it. They think that a legal Will is an unchanging and unalterable thing. Many people get a false impression because of movie, television, and playwrights who like to use Wills as dramatic plot elements.
While unchanging Wills might make for entertaining TV, amending a Will, in reality, is easy. When circumstances change, LeClair Thibeault can modify your Will.
Avoid hefty tax bills
There is no ‘death tax’ or inheritance tax in Canada. However, the sale of the estate can be subject to certain taxes unless it’s passing to the surviving spouse or common-law partner. Proper estate planning can protect the estate from tax bills. An estate planning law firm will make sure assets are restructured, ensuring that the inheritance is clearly established while also handling other details.
We specialize in handling all of those issues for our Wills and estate planning clients.
Structure the estate to avoid contention
Preventing fights among surviving heirs is often at the top of mind for many clients. The most common cause of conflicts is when major assets are not clearly assigned. Additionally, if there are complicated stipulations, it can result in the heirs getting into disputes with the estate.
Issues related to jointly held property can also cause further confusion. Our Calgary Wills and estate planning practice helps you to avoid these common pitfalls.
areas of expertise
When it comes to protecting your real estate and assets, an experienced Calgary legal team is an invaluable asset.
Foreclosure defence
When it comes to defending your property from foreclosure, you need expert legal representation to guide you to the best possible resolution.
Adopting a smart strategy for dealing with your lender and state authorities will increase your chances of reaching a successful resolution with the lender. Strategies include a short sale, loan modification, refinancing agreement, or other methods of resolving the foreclosure.
Wills
If you want to guarantee there will be a smooth transfer of property and assets when you pass, your Will must be done correctly.
There are many misconceptions about Wills among the general population. Wills are relatively simple and useful documents, but only when it is when drawn up correctly. Hiring a law firm to assist with your Will and estate plans will ensure that the document contains the information needed to prevent future conflict.
For example, it does not have to accurately describe how property will be distributed and under what conditions that happen. Those details are better handled by the estate planning legal entity known as a living trust. Getting your Will in order can be quicker and easier than you thought possible. Resolving these open questions early will avoid significant estate related issues, especially if there’s untimely death
A sound Will accomplishes a relatively small number of things:
Executor
It names an executor for the estate.
Guardians
It names guardians for children, dependents, and pets.
Taxes
It describes how to pay taxes and debts
Trust
It serves as a backup option to a trust or other entity designed for estate purposes
Name the executor
The executor of Will is the person charged with carrying out the terms of the Will. If your Will doesn’t name an executor, the court will appoint one. Pick someone you trust.
Establish guardianship
If you have children or other dependents, establishing guardianship with your Will can prevent any serious issues from arising. The guardian will care for your children until at least the age of 18.
Establish an overall plan
The Will is just a starting point for estate planning. It doesn’t have to contain everything. You can work on your overall estate plan for years. As time goes on, try to plan how you want assets disbursed and to whom.
Clear up taxes and debts
The Will establishes how the estate will address taxes and debts, including what priorities there are as allowed by law. A key benefit of hiring an estate planning law firm is that we can help you to protect the estate’s assets.
Enduring Power of Attorney
Enduring Power of Attorney is essential to protecting the interests of those who may become incapacitated due to health reasons.
The typical reason for establishing Enduring Power of Attorney is to protect the elderly, the infirm, and those with mental illness issues from being exploited by other people. It also helps certain people who have trouble managing their affairs to have a trusted individual to take care of them.
Enduring Power of Attorney empowers someone to act on behalf of another person in the case of:
Incapacitation
Prolonged medical incapacitation
Illness
Severe mental illness
Other Conditions
Or any other condition that prevents the person from effectively managing their affairs
Protect the elderly
Elders can be especially vulnerable to con artists, corrupt eldercare institutions, and other bad characters. Establishing Power of Attorney can protect their interests.
Include it in a plan
Even a healthy person with no serious medical issues should consider naming someone to have Power of Attorney. Serious accidents can cause incapacity.
Don’t wait
You can establish conditions for Enduring Power of Attorney. It doesn’t have to be named immediately. By planning early, you will prevent conflict and confusion later.
Make end of life easier
You can make the end of life care simpler by naming someone with Enduring Power of Attorney. Avoid future estate issues related to missed bills and unpaid debts.
Personal Directives
Personal directives are important to ensure that your wishes regarding medical care in the event of serious circumstances are respected.
As Alberta’s population ages, the quality and cost of end of life care is becoming a more pressing issue. Because of this, personal directives are becoming increasingly sophisticated. Our estate planning experts can help you to work out the details.
Setting up personal directives is important if you want to:
Medical Care
Determine how medical care will be provided to you if you are incapacitated
Limit Expenses
Limit the expenses to your estate caused by end of life care
Medical Treatments
Limit the use of medical treatments that cause severe impediments to your future quality of life
Determines Authority
Determines who has the authority to make medical decisions on your behalf in case of incapacity
Improve control
A personal directive will give you more influence over how you will be treated under severe health conditions or during end of life care. You can exercise more power than you might think.
Reduce costs
End of life medical costs due to elective operations and treatments can bite into the value of an estate. You can cut down on costs with advanced directives.
Avoid side effects
Large medical interventions can have significant negative consequences for long term health. A personal directive can help you to have your preferences obeyed.
More quality of life
Personal directives can enhance your quality of life by allowing you to forgo interventions like chemotherapy and surgery under certain conditions.
Estate Admin
Ensure that your estate is left in good hands. We can plan out estate administration for you or take an active role.
Naming an outside party to take an active role in the administration of your estate can cut down on complexity, errors, and unwanted conflict revolving around your estate. We can handle all of these common estate issues listed below.
Administering the estate involves:
Compliance
Ensures compliance with all personal directives
Will is Obeyed
Ensures that the will is obeyed
Trusts
Ensuring that various trusts and other entities receive the correct funds and assets
Living trusts
Living trusts provide more detailed control over who inherits assets and under what conditions they become eligible for inheritance.
Executor compliance
The executor must handle all of their responsibilities in a timely fashion to avoid having the estate accumulate unnecessary charges and expenses.
Will enforcement
In the case of disputes involving the Will, our Calgary law firm can help to clear them up or to establish alternative documentation substantiating claims.
Avoid Probate
One primary goal of proper estate administration is to keep the assets of the estate out of probate court. Improper estate administration can lead to this happening.
forms & intake
Get started on drafting your Will or estate plan with one of our simple, easy to understand forms. You can accomplish a lot in five minutes.
We know that most people want to put off drafting their Will and planning their estate. No one wants to think about what might come after. That’s why we’ve made the process of getting started as easy and commitment-free as possible. The entire form just takes a few minutes to fill out. That handles many of the details needed to get started on your Will. See? That’s not so bad, is it?
Request one of our convenient intake forms to define:
Easy estate planning
Spend just minutes naming guardians, beneficiaries, and your funeral instructions. These few items will get you most of the way towards finishing your Will. It can be that easy.
Take your time
Defining the details of inheritance can be deferred or delegated to a living trust. You can avoid the worst consequences of avoiding estate planning with a Will.
Fast responses
At LeClair Thibeault, we live up to our slogan: Done Now. Done Right. ® The way we fulfill it with estate planning is to provide easy to use intake forms.
Expert legal advice
With estate planning, it’s crucial to get all the common points of future conflict and confusion ironed out as early as possible. We take care of that for you.