Estate planning: why you need a will and power of attorney

Wills and estates is one of our core practice areas at Telesh Law Firm Professional Corp, and the most expensive files we see are the ones where someone died without a valid will. People understand a will matters. They put it off anyway, and their families pay for it later in legal fees, delay, and arguments a straightforward document would have prevented.

Ontario’s Succession Law Reform Act decides everything a will would have decided for you:

• Nobody is in charge: A will names an estate trustee (your executor), usually your spouse or another person you choose. Without one, someone has to apply to the court to be appointed, often with consents from other family members. Until that happens, no one has authority to deal with your assets.
• A formula decides who inherits: If you leave a married spouse and children, your spouse takes the first $350,000 and the rest is divided between the spouse and the children. Common-law partners inherit nothing automatically, however long you were together. Estranged relatives can end up with a share you never intended them to have.
• It costs more: Estates without wills need extra documentation, consents, and sometimes a bond. People often skip a will because of the cost, then the estate spends several times that amount sorting out the result.

We keep the process simple. Here is how it runs:

1. 01Questionnaire: Before the first meeting you receive a will and power of attorney questionnaire. It surfaces the issues people forget, like stepchildren, children from a prior relationship, or a beneficiary receiving disability benefits.
2. 02Consultation: A one-hour meeting where we:

• Work through the structure of your will and powers of attorney.
• Sort out which assets pass through your estate and which pass outside it.
• Explain Ontario’s estate administration tax (probate fees) and cover specific gifts, guardians for minor children, and burial or cremation wishes.
• Deal with the harder issues, such as a trust for a disabled beneficiary so their Ontario Disability Support Program (ODSP) benefits continue.

3. 03Drafting: We draft your wills and powers of attorney from your instructions and send them by email or mail. You review them and tell us what to change.
4. 04Signing: We meet to sign and witness everything. You leave with the originals, which we recommend keeping in a fireproof, secure spot at home. Ontario also permanently allows signing over video, with a lawyer or paralegal as one of the witnesses, if you cannot attend in person.

A will only speaks at death. Powers of attorney cover you while you are alive but unable to manage your own affairs. There are two:

• Continuing power of attorney for property: Someone you trust handles your finances and assets. Because it is “continuing,” it keeps working if you become mentally incapable, which is the main reason to have one.
• Power of attorney for personal care: Someone you trust makes decisions about your medical care and living arrangements if you cannot make them yourself.

Without these documents, your family may need to bring a court guardianship application to get authority over your affairs, which is slow and expensive. In some cases Ontario’s Public Guardian and Trustee steps in instead.

Store-bought and online kits will produce a document. What they will not do is ask the right questions:

• What happens if a beneficiary dies before you?
• Is a charity named precisely enough that the gift can actually be paid out?
• What about stepchildren, a disabled beneficiary, or a relative you intend to exclude?
• If someone challenges the will later, who can speak to your capacity when you signed?

A kit that saves a few hundred dollars now regularly costs an estate thousands later, and the dispute lands on your family.

We prepare wills and powers of attorney on a flat fee, quoted before any work starts, so there is no meter running while you decide. Individual and spousal packages are both available. Call for the current rates.

Clients tell us the same thing after signing, almost every time: they should have done this years ago.

For help with wills, powers of attorney, or anything else in real estate, corporate law, or estate planning, call Telesh Law Firm Professional Corp at (416) 639-0887 or email tlf@teleshlawfirm.ca.

• For families
• Step-by-step guide
• Cost & fees

This article is general information, not legal advice, and does not create a solicitor-client relationship. It is current as at its publication date and is not revised as the law changes. For advice on your specific situation, book a consultation or call 416-639-0887.

Written by

Caleesis Telesh

Founder & Principal Lawyer

LL.B. · B.A., York University · Member, Law Society of Ontario

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