The Role of an Estate Lawyer: When Do You Need One?

Everyone should prepare for the future, no matter their age or situation. As you and your loved ones move through the process of estate planning, there are numerous situations in which you should seek the help of an estate lawyer.

At Verhaeghe Law, our Edmonton estate administration lawyers work with our clients to navigate this complex area of law. At Verhaeghe Law Office, our Edmonton estate lawyers may be able to assist you with various aspects of estate planning. Contact us to go over the specifics of your situation today.

Estate Planning

An estate lawyer can administer a wide range of estate planning initiatives. They can work with you to create a will or build a comprehensive estate plan, ensuring that after you pass away, your assets are handled in accordance with your wishes. They may also be able to help you create trusts and build an estate plan that is tax efficient.

Estate lawyers can also help you prepare a personal directive, which formally names an “agent” to act on your behalf should you become unable to make personal decisions. Estate lawyers can also help you create a power of attorney, where a representative is selected to make your financial decisions should you lose capacity in some way. In addition, estate lawyers may also be able to help you navigate the complexities of guardianship or conservatorship for incapacitated adults or minors.

Estate Administration and Probates

After someone passes away, an estate lawyer can help the executor navigate the sometimes stressful and time-consuming process of estate administration. This may include fiduciary and accounting duties, working with creditors and discharging estate debt, preparing and distributing estate accounts, and much more.

Estate lawyers also provide probate services, which is a legal process that authenticates and validates a will. It affirms that the executor can act on behalf of the estate, and ensures that the will can be carried out as it was written.

If the deceased did not have a will or if the executor is unwilling to fulfill their duty, estate lawyers can create a letter of administration. An official court document that proves that an individual has the authority to execute the estate, the letter may be used as an alternative to probate.

Estate Disputes and Litigation

If there is a disagreement or dispute amongst the heirs or beneficiaries, Edmonton estate litigation lawyers may be called in to help resolve these conflicts. If a dispute cannot be initially resolved, then a lawyer could help you through the formal, legal process of estate litigation.

Following the loss of a loved one, estate litigation may occur when disputes arise about their remaining will. An estate lawyer can provide legal advice to estate trustees and beneficiaries on many different challenges, including will interpretation and disputes, capacity issues, relief claims, and more.

Speak to an Edmonton Estate Lawyer Today

It is important to prepare for whatever the future may hold. With the help of an estate lawyer, you may be able to establish a cohesive plan for the estate and loved ones you may one day leave behind. In turn, estate lawyers also help surviving relatives and friends handle the estate of someone who has passed on.

At Verhaeghe Law Office, our Edmonton estate lawyers assist clients with wills, probates, estate litigation, and more. If you need help creating your estate plan or with other areas of estate law, contact Verhaeghe Law Office today.

** Please note, this article is intended as a general overview on the subject of estate law, and is not intended to be legal advice. If you are seeking legal advice, please consult with an Alberta estate lawyer.

Trusts in Edmonton Estate Planning: What They Are, And How They Might Benefit You

To protect the life you have worked hard to build, it is essential to create a comprehensive estate plan. By doing so, you ensure the preservation of your estate for your chosen beneficiaries and get to personally decide how assets will be distributed.

There are estate planning options that may be useful to consider. For example, a Trust may be set up between two parties with interconnected responsibilities and rights. They are then carried out through the chosen trustee at a determined time.

It is important to get advice about the most effective tax strategies and cost-efficient methods for estate planning. Our experienced family lawyers at Verhaeghe Law may be able to help you navigate through the complexities of estate planning, answer questions about trusts, and build the best plan for you.

What is a Trust?

A trust is a legal arrangement and estate planning tool that is used to manage your organizational or personal assets and distribute them to selected beneficiaries. With or without a will, the transfer of assets would happen through a trust. Depending on the type of trust you have put in place, the tax implications for your assets may vary.

While the concept of a trust is fairly straightforward, creating a strategic trust may be complex. For example, without a will, asset distribution may be more complicated. In such cases, a different type of trust may be selected.

Created when you assign ownership of your assets to a trustee, trusts leave a set of instructions that detail how you would like assets to be distributed and managed amongst beneficiaries. They may be written to take effect solely upon your death, or at a specific time while you are alive.

Benefits of a Trust

Establishing a trust in Alberta offers numerous advantages. By creating a trust, individuals gain the ability to safeguard and oversee their assets. Plus, this arrangement grants control over the timing of distributions, which can be a useful management strategy. Moreover, trusts may afford you privacy regarding asset values, offer tax exemptions and savings, support charitable causes, and more. Furthermore, initiating a trust may override mandatory succession rules and reduce the potential for future estate disputes and litigation.

Under the Trustee Act, Albertans are able to create and handle trusts in an efficient manner with a lesser need to go to court. With reduced administrative duties for beneficiaries and a clear outline of trustees' duties, this estate planning can be completed with the help of a family lawyer. Reach out to our experts at Verhaeghe Law who may be able to develop a unique estate plan catered to your specific needs.

Testamentary Trusts

There are two primary trust types in Alberta. The first is known as a testamentary trust, which is established within your will and becomes active upon your passing. Assets associated with a testamentary trust are considered to be part of your estate, therefore the payment of applicable estate fees or taxes may occur. You retain the ability to modify your will by drafting a new one version at any point.

In Alberta, the conditions of a testamentary trust are set by the will or through a court decree. Should the beneficiaries outlined in the will not receive their rightful portion as specified by the deceased, the testamentary trust might transform into an inter vivos trust.

Inter Vivos Trusts

Any trust that is not classified as testamentary falls under the category of an inter vivos trust or a living trust. With a living trust, ownership may shift to the beneficiaries upon creation. Additional properties can be incorporated into the trust at any juncture. As this transfer of ownership occurs while you are alive, the assets within the trust do not constitute part of your estate and are not subject to probate. An Edmonton wills and estate lawyer may be able to help you decide which type of trust is ideal for you.

The Government of Canada recognizes various non-testamentary trusts, each serving specific purposes. They include:

Alter ego trust
Communal organization
Deemed resident trust
Employee benefit plan
Employee life and health trust (ELHT)
Employee trust
Environment Quality Act trust
Graduated rate estate (GRE)
Health and welfare trust (HWT)
Hepatitis C trust and Indian residential school trust
Insurance segregated fund trust
Joint spousal or common-law partner trust
Lifetime benefit trust
Master trust
Mutual fund trust
Non-profit organization
Nuclear Fuel Waste Act trust
Personal trust
Pooled registered pension plans (PRPP)
Qualified disability trust (QDT)
Qualifying environmental trust (QET)
Real estate investment trust (REIT)
Registered disability savings plan (RDSP) trust
Registered education savings plan (RESP) trusts
Registered retirement income fund (RRIF) trust
Registered retirement savings plan (RRSP) trust
Retirement compensation arrangement (RCA)
Salary deferral arrangement (SDA)
Specified investment flow-through (SIFT) trust
Specified trust
Spousal or common-law partner trust
Tax-free savings account (TFSA) trust
Unit trust

Inter vivos trusts offer significant tax advantages, including the ability to income split and the reduction of executor's fees and probate taxes. Along with lowering estate fees and upon-death taxes, they may also simplify the transfer of wealth between family members.

The Role of the Trustee

A trustee may be responsible for actively handling investment decisions within the estate or simply holding the funds for an allotted time. Therefore, it is just as important to carefully select a capable trustee as well as a beneficiary.

In family situations, a trustee may take care of a trust until a particular date. For example, if the beneficiaries in a testamentary trust are children, the trustee may be responsible for the estate until they reach adulthood. Then, the trust would be passed onto the beneficiaries, which may be completed through a predetermined schedule of distribution.

For most, a trust may be a singular part of a broader estate plan when creating a will. While it is not mandatory to seek legal advice to set up a living or testamentary trust, it is highly recommended to ensure everything is completed in accordance with your preferences and to avoid costly legal errors.

Call Or Email Our Edmonton Wills and Estates Lawyers Today to Schedule a Consultation

No matter the size of your accumulated wealth, estate planning is the key to handling the distribution of your assets like insurance, stocks, savings, properties, shares, bonds, businesses, disability benefits, and more. Depending on your given circumstances, a trust may be a useful mechanism when making your arrangements.

Our Edmonton family lawyers at Verhaeghe Law recognize the potentially stressful nature of estate planning. We aim to address each case with care and diligence and work in unison with our clients to adhere to their particular needs.

Contact our Edmonton wills and estates lawyers to learn more about the benefits of trusts, get answers to other estate planning questions, and discover how we might be able to assist you.

Questions to Ask your Real Estate Lawyer

If you are going to be making any kind of real estate transaction, you will need the help of a real estate lawyer. Real estate lawyers can help with the purchase of a new home, investment properties, foreclosures, and any kind of complication that may arise while you are trying to close on a property. While there are some for sale by owner deals, bypassing realtors, you most often cannot get by without a lawyer, and so when it comes time to make your property purchase or do anything related to real estate you will need to find a lawyer that can represent you. Here are some questions that you can ask of your real estate lawyer to determine if they are a good fit for you.

What similar experience do they have?

While all cases are unique, you want a lawyer who has worked on similar real estate cases to your own. When you are making a simple home purchase, you can rest assured that they have the necessary experience, as processing property transactions are very common. Less common real estate needs are the ones that need expertise and experience, so make sure that your lawyer can handle them if they are what you face.

What is your fee policy?

When you are going through the process of buying a house, you should set aside a certain amount of money for legal fees. No matter what, hiring a lawyer will have additional costs, and depending on your needs those costs can vary. For standard home purchases, this is often a flat fee, but if there are any legal issues, court cases, or settlements associated with your case, then fees can add up. Discuss their fee policy and how they operate before you begin working with them so that there will be no nasty surprises for anyone. Remember, the more experienced a lawyer, the higher their fees usually are.

How can I reach you?

Your lawyer will have other cases and priorities throughout their time working with you. While this is true, you still want to know that if you have questions that there is an avenue where you can reach your lawyer or a representative from their firm. Whether a real estate paralegal administrator, junior partner, or person at the firm can answer your question, forward it to the lawyer, or get an answer from the lawyer for you, is essential and you want to know that there is a clear route for communication that you can rely on throughout the process. This is especially true for when you will be picking up keys to your new home from your realtor.

Real Estate Law with Verhaeghe Law Office

If you are looking for an Edmonton law firm to handle all of your real estate needs, then look no further than Verhaeghe Law Office. Our team of experienced lawyers have expertise in a multitude of areas, including real estate law, family law, estate and probate law and corporate law. If you have any real estate problems or are simply purchasing or selling a home, then contact us today.

10 Things to Look for When Hiring an Estate Lawyer

As a legal team, we’re often asked when is the best time to start planning your legacy or estate, and the truth is that it’s generally a good time as soon as you start working and accumulating assets or when you get married or have children. But it’s also a good idea if you have specific wishes that pertain to how you want to be treated posthumously and whom or what organization is going to feature as part of your legacy.

You might also be thinking that this is a conversation that you’re only going to need later when the reality of life may well hasten that day so we want to guide you along the way to getting the best possible legal advice that works for you.

Knowing what you want from your Estate Lawyer

As with every other major part of "life planning", not all advisors are created equal nor serve the same purpose, so you should know what it is you want from your estate lawyer before you start the search to be matched with the right one. The level of legal advice and representation you'll need will be determined by your financial status when your start planning for your estate. If you've been fortunate to have a sophisticated financial and asset reality, then you're going to need lawyers that specialize accordingly, whereas if you're just starting as a parent or life partner your circumstances will differ from someone who just celebrated their 50th anniversary.

Why do you need an Estate Lawyer?

These are lawyers that are specifically trained in the type of law that governs how your legacy will be handled after your death. They can also be instructed should you be entering into an unfortunate period of illness or deteriorating mental health and need a solid plan for your family or friends.

When will you need one?

In truth, you probably will only be thinking about instructing a lawyer of this nature later on in life, but as soon as you start accumulating any resources or when you start a family is a good time to find one.

So what does an Estate Lawyer do?

These lawyers are also known as "probate" lawyers and are specially trained in dealing with the drafting of living trusts, offer advice on estate taxes and also ensure that your assets can't be attached by your beneficiaries' creditors posthumously or nefariously. They also make sure that your wishes are carried out precisely as you wanted them to be.

(In other words, they draw up your will?)

At their most basic level of service provision, they draw up your will and act as "executor" on your final estate, which means that they will ensure that your last wishes are carried out as you would have wanted them to. (But you can't stop your daughter from marrying that man).

They can also advise on tax, power of lawyer, and medical situations.

What about living trusts?

Also knows as "revocable living trusts", these are specific instructions that govern the use of your assets either while you're still alive, should you become ill, or mentally unstable, or in the unfortunate event of your passing. These instructions are "revocable" pending your recovery from illness but become irrevocable upon your death.

Money Matters (yours and your lawyers)

Your lawyer should always be 100% upfront and transparent about what you're going to be paying them, over which period, and if there is a demand on your estate for any legal fees when you're no longer here. This is super important because the last thing you want is to have your loved ones labored with unforeseen expenses because you didn't plan sufficiently.

Does your lawyer handle medical matters?

Have you ever given thought to what you want to happen to you if you're unable to make medical decisions that relate to things like organ donation, whether your not you want to be kept on life support or for what period and who is allowed to make those decisions in your stead?

It can be absolutely heartbreaking to not have these instructions in place and the leaving the burden of choice onto a loved one that is now faced with the reality of having to decide whether or not they have to disconnect life support machines or allow or disallow your resuscitation.

Your lawyer should be able to handle this and your will and legacy planning.

What if your lawyer waves off "probate"?

This should be a reason for concern as the entire point of instructing an estate lawyer is so that you won't have to go into "probate". (Probate happens when one hasn't planned sufficiently or correctly in terms of your estate/legacy planning and now a portion of or the entirety of your posthumous legal situation has to be handled on your behalf by the state and this can cause protracted legal proceedings, adding to an already difficult situation.

Are you comfortable with your lawyer?

This might sound strange at first, but consider this: you're going to sharing your most intimate ideas, feelings, and information with your lawyer. They may yet be privy to information that has been secretly in your family for many years have access to sensitive financial information and so you have to feel without any doubt that they can be trusted and that they take you and your circumstances seriously. That you're not just another "number" or nameless client.

At different stages of your life and growth, you're going to need different levels of advice and support and so you should be looking for a legal partner that walks a long walk with you and is interested in your circumstances. If you are not specifically trained in this type of law or don't have sufficient a grasp of all the legal intricacies and ramifications that comes with estate planning, then you need to reach out to partners that are experienced and who you can trust.