OSSTF District 11- Thames Valley
Ontario Secondary School Teachers' Federation

680 Industrial Road, London, Ontario, N5V 1V1
Phone: (519) 659-6588; Fax: (519) 659-2421; Email: osstf11@execulink.com

Estate Planning

Estate Planning for Parents: The Importance of Having a Will

None of us intend to die prematurely, especially when we have young children. Unfortunately, few of us draft one of life's most important documents: a valid Will. A Will is a person's final opportunity to provide their survivors and heirs with written direction of how they wish to distribute their assets and extinguish their debts. If you do not have a Will in place at the time of your death, your estate will be distributed according to intestacy law in Ontario. Should you die intestate, your estate will be divided among your closest living relatives (more on this issue in Part II). As a result, the surviving spouse may find themselves joint owners on assets with their children.

One of the more difficult aspects of parenting is contemplating the possibility that both parents will die simultaneously. To address this possibility, parents should appoint a guardian(s) for their minor children. Although the Courts must ultimately approve this appointment after a 90-day period, the parents' written wishes are rarely overturned. This is often the most difficult decision parents make with respect to their Wills, occasionally a point of contention between parents and too often the stumbling block to drafting Wills. Making a list of suitable "candidates" and their "qualities and qualifications" sometimes facilitates the process. The potential guardian should be someone who shares your moral values and child rearing beliefs.

Under current Ontario legislation, unless you stipulate otherwise in your Will, your estate would be shared among your children as they each reach the legal age of 18. For many parents with children under the age of 18, this can be a terrifying proposition; particularly since life insurance often creates substantial estates. A Will allows you the opportunity to create testamentary trusts to hold and invest each child's share of your estate until some predetermined age. Often parents will distribute income from the trust beginning at age 18 and will stipulate lump sum distributions of the trust's capital at age 21, 25 and/or 30. Your Will should also stipulate that the trustee(s) be able to make capital withdrawals for specific or broad needs, such as education, housing and extracurricular activities.

Estate Planning

The personal financial planning process is a comprehensive review of every financial aspect of your life. Defining your personal goals and objectives is an essential part of that process. We provide a thorough overview of your current financial situation and help you identify the best means of achieving your short and long-term goals such as planning for retirement, buying or upgrading a home and educating your children.

Estate planning may help minimize the tax liability of your estate and ensure assets are distributed according to your final wishes. Planning for the organized transfer of intergenerational wealth is essential to ensure the protection of your assets and those of generations to come.

Where applicable, the comprehensive review includes the following areas:
● Retirement planning
● Review of investments
● Cash flow and debt management
● Review of pension plan benefits
● Insurance review (life and disability)
● Estate analysis and review of estate planning documents: Wills and Powers of Attorney
● Education savings

As with all employees at OTG Financial, our financial planners are salaried, not commissioned and their objectives are solely based on your personal goals and needs. If you are planning on retiring in the next few years or wish to have an objective review of your investment portfolio, please contact us for a one-on-one financial planning appointment.

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