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Considering estate planning, and are wondering whether or not you need a will?

Are you considering estate planning, and are wondering whether or not you need a will?  A first step may actually be communicating with your children about your finances and how you plan to dispose of your estate – there seems to be a lot of misconceptions out there about how much money you have to pass on!

A new survey finds the anticipated $1-trillion dollar transfer of wealth forecast to occur in the next 20 years may not actually happen at all.

The poll was conducted online within Canada between January 12 and January 25, 2012, among 1,002 adults (aged 18 and over).

According to Investors Group, who conducted the survey, a little more more than half of Canadians are expecting an inheritance and 57 per cent expect the value will be over $100,000.

However, the same survey found the average size of the windfall, among those who disclosed the amount, was $57,000. The backdrop to all of this is nearly half of Canadians aged 60 or more are worried they are going to need their savings to fund their retirement and won’t have money left to pass on as a legacy. Why? People are living longer. As well, the events of the past decade have taken a chunk out of many retirement savings plans.

Another issue is the trend amongst Baby Boomers towards “blended families” with multiple sets of children and grandchildren through remarriage. These non-traditional family structures that can really eat away at inheritance for children as legacies are carved up.

The best thing to do is for parents to discuss estate planning with their children, in order to manage expectations (and ensure the children themselves are adequately planning for retirement), and then to create a will that will effectively carry out your wishes. For such estate planning, it’s critical to seek assistance from a lawyer.

Estate planning can protect loved ones, maintain a family business, save taxes, avoid conflicts between beneficiaries, take care of charitable interests and accomplish many other objectives.

Dinning Hunter Lambert & Jackson offers the following services:

  • Preparation of wills and other testamatory documents
  • Estate planning
  • Administration of estates and probate
  • Creation and administration of trust arrangements
  • Representation agreements
  • Powers of attorney for property and personal care
  • Estate planning for disabled individuals
  • Dispute resolutions
  • Trust Law and Elder Law issues
Please contact us today to talk with an estate planning lawyer in Victoria.

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