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Simple 10-Step Estate Planning Checklist

The sooner you start, the simpler you will find estate planning! The longer you leave it, the more complex and the greater the chance you will miss out on regulatory and tax breaks. So, where do we start? By breaking down the process into simple bite-size bits….

Estate planning BC is simple in principle but can be pretty complex in practice, especially with no preparation. Essentially, you need to know your starting point, where you want to be, and the most efficient way to get there. Our estate planning checklist walks you through the process, prompts you to think about specific areas in isolation, and brings everything together at the end. Whether looking at online wills BC, trustees, beneficiaries or the ever-changing regulatory environment, there is much to consider.

1. Review Your Assets and Liabilities

The first stage of estate planning BC is to review your assets and liabilities, employment, investment and other sources of income. Even though many of us have an idea in our head as to what we are worth, liabilities and plans for the future, when written down on paper they may differ significantly. Therefore, every element of your financial life must be noted in this review. This ensures you can make plans for the efficient structure of your estate and gives you a starting point, a foundation going forward.

2. Appoint Financial Advisers

When you have a list of your assets, liabilities and income sources, this is the time to approach a professional financial adviser. They will sit down with you; look at your assets and liabilities in more detail and your hopes and aspirations for the future. While you will likely need some legal representation to complement your financial adviser, the degree of additional assistance will vary. If you have a relatively simple estate, it should be reasonably easy to keep the cost down when looking at estate planning BC.

Those with business interests and assets spread across Canada and the rest of the world may need specialist assistance. When it comes to business interests, there may already be pre-existing arrangements with directors/partners which need to be respected. In many ways, advice is the key in the early stages, as this will guide you in the appropriate direction.

3. Identify Your Goals

As we touched on above, if you don’t know where you wish to go, how will you know when you get there? Typically, people leave the vast array of their estate to family and close friends. Indeed there are rules and regulations regarding estates; if no will or instructions exist, assets will be shared out amongst spouses/partners, children and the wider family. So it is essential to recognise how you wish your assets to be shared at a relatively early stage. 

Would you like your partner/spouse to receive everything and manage part on behalf of your children? If there are significant assets available, it may be an idea to set up a trust fund for your wider family. Do not automatically assume that those “left behind” are in synch with your thoughts. They may not know about your goals and wishes for your assets. You must leave no element of confusion!

4. Create an Estate Management Plan

The only way that estate management BC looks simple is because you have done the groundwork; you have started relatively early and taken it piece by piece. Now that you know your assets and goals for the future, it is time to establish a formal estate management plan. This will incorporate several individuals such as trustees, lawyers, financial advisers and beneficiaries. You may require additional assistance in some cases, such as a particularly complicated personal/business life.

The next stage of the estate planning checklist is to appoint the relevant people and build on the foundations with the legal paperwork.

5. Appoint trustees/executors

Whether we are talking about online wills BC or the more traditional written will, you must have trustees and executors in place. This prompts the question, what is the difference between a trustee and an executor? A trustee is in charge of managing the estate before it is passed to the beneficiaries. An executor is an individual/company appointed to carry out the deceased’s wishes. They will be involved in many activities, which can include any of the following:-

• Applying for probate
• Valuing the estate
• Settling inheritance tax
• Registering the death
• Arranging the funeral
• Closing relevant accounts
• Collating assets
• Distributing funds/assets

Many people are misguided and automatically assume that the executor and trustee have similar roles. This brings us to other questions, such as; can an executor be a beneficiary in British Columbia? While legally, there is no reason why not, from a moral/simplification point of view, the easiest thing to do is to appoint executors that are not beneficiaries.

6. Complete the Relevant Paperwork

Now that you have your team in place, your list of assets/liabilities and have begun taking formal advice, now is the time to complete the relevant paperwork. When we say “paperwork”, many will be aware that online wills BC are now recognised under the law and legally binding. Consequently, this section applies to both online and physical wills.

When it comes down to placing your instructions on paper, there is a growing trend toward excluding immediate friends and family from discussions. This allows the individual to remain focused on what they want, not being overly influenced by the hopes and aspirations of others. Unfortunately, even relatively quiet, unassuming people can turn into hard-nosed individuals if they feel they have been “wronged” in someone’s will. Therefore, you must add as much detail to your will as possible, leaving no room for different interpretations or legal wrangling. 

Failure to create a watertight will can, and often has, resulted in legal action. This not only drags the individual’s family through the courts but can also lead to significant costs, which may be taken out of the estate. In this situation, nobody benefits.

7. Register Estate Documents

Even though there are numerous ways in which you can leave instructions after your death, many people still use the Canada Will Registry. This is a handy starting point for family and friends on your demise. The registration document will note executors and trustees, those allowed access, and details of how your estate should be split. While there is no legal requirement to register estate related documents prior to your death, if they are lost or destroyed, this can cause serious problems.

8. Store Estate Documents

There are numerous methods of storing estate documents to ensure they are to hand upon your death. These include:-

• Lawyers
• Banks
• Financial advisers
• Trusted parties
• Cloud services

It is also essential that out of date wills and estate related documents are correctly destroyed. Failure to do so will only cause confusion which could lead to more legal challenges and significant costs. In addition, you will make the situation much more transparent so that everyone knows where they stand.

In recent years we have seen the emergence of virtual storage facilities for legal documents. These services also ensure the timely release to trustees and executors. Due to a change in British Columbia regulations, it is now perfectly legal to store your will and last testament in the clouds. While slowly starting to be appreciated by the wider public, this is a significant development.

9. Adapt and Maximise Regulatory Changes

The idea that your estate planning checklist is a one-time visit, a one-off event, is a fallacy. As we have all seen, governments in British Columbia, across Canada and the globe are regularly changing financial regulations, including estate laws. While dependent upon the type of government, new rules may emerge which are beneficial, while others may increase the government’s tax take from your estate.

Whatever the situation, it is vital that you adapt your estate planning checklist to make the most of often complex regulatory changes. Your advisers should rubberstamp any significant adjustments to the structure of your estate.

10. Annual Review of Your Estate Planning

It is good housekeeping to review your finances and your estate planning checklist on an annual basis. Sometimes, you may require additional advice throughout the year, while other scenarios may require a simple box-ticking yearly meeting. However, you must sit down with your advisers regularly. It may be that your personal circumstances have changed, your finances have exceeded initial expectations, or there may be family issues. 

An annual review ensures that there is regular communication between advisers and clients. It also allows all parties to discuss any issues at hand or potential challenges going forward. Do not underestimate the importance of an annual client meeting!

Fail to Prepare, Prepare to Fail

When looking at our estate planning checklist, everything appears simple, straightforward and obvious. This is the whole point of the checklist, breaking down a potentially complex task into more manageable bite-sized chunks. Focusing on specific issues instead of the broader picture encourages a high level of detail and greater understanding.

It is essential to have peace of mind while also exerting control of your assets before your death. This ensures that an estate that may have taken decades to build is directed at your preferred beneficiaries. By failing to prepare, you are preparing to fail; it is as simple as that!

New legislation: Electronic wills in British Columbia (BC)

While will writing is not the kind of conversation you would like to have across the dinner table, it is a crucial subject for individuals and families. Failure to write a will could lead to an array of complications and expenses with a process that may drag on for some time. We know that many people prefer their will to remain private before their passing, which can help avoid friction, arguments, and even legal action. 

Before taking a look at the changes in legislation, let’s first go through some information about wills in general.

Do you need a will in British Columbia?

If you die without a will in BC, this is described as having died intestate and means the courts will decide how your assets are distributed. In line with provincial laws, an executor will be appointed to review your family situation and propose how your assets will be split. The hierarchical family tree tends to be:-

• Partners
• Children
• Parents
• Siblings
• Nieces and nephews

This legal process is unlikely to consider any fractured family relationships. Consequently, your assets may not be distributed as you would have preferred. By writing a will, you can specify how your assets will be split.

Writing a will in BC

The cost of writing a will in British Columbia will vary depending on your route. If you decide to use the services of a solicitor, there are various charges to consider, including:-

• Consultation
• Preparing the will
• Storing your will
• Executing your will on death

Even though using a solicitor is the more traditional method, many people are unaware that you can write your own will. Again there are specific issues to consider, such as:-

• Ensure the will is valid from a legal point of view
• Advice on completing the will
• Storing your will
• Execution on your death

While a do-it-yourself will is significantly cheaper than a solicitor, many people prefer to involve the legal profession to ensure their will is legal.

Where to store a will BC

Those looking to store a will in British Columbia have several historical options and one recent change to will writing regulations. It is a problematic quandary; where can I store my will for safekeeping?

Store a will with a solicitor

Even though it is perfectly possible to write your own will with legal standing using online services, many still prefer to use a solicitor. Consequently, the vast majority of wills today are retained with a solicitor until the person’s death.

Store a will at home

There is always the option to store your will at home in BC, but this option has obvious risks. The document may be lost or destroyed in the event of a fire, for example. This would lead to your estate being distributed as having died intestate. Many people have a safe in their home, which has obvious benefits but only if people know the documents are there.

Store a will with a friend

Whether an executor or a friend, it may be an option to store your will with a third party that may have safer storage facilities. However, this option has obvious risks if your relationship breaks down, they lose your documents, or nobody knows where they are on your death.

Store a will with your bank

Some banks and other financial institutions offer storage facilities to their customers. It may be that you choose to store your will with a British Columbia bank with instructions left in the event of your demise. Where there is only one original hard copy of your will, there is always a risk that it may be lost or destroyed.

Store a will electronically

Under recently updated BC laws, you can now create an electronic will with an electronic signature, which can be stored in the clouds. Whether or not you prefer to retain a hard copy in a safe place is up to you, but electronic wills are accepted in British Columbia from a legal perspective. Furthermore, as you can literally store your will as a locked file, only available to certain people in the event of your death, it has opened up new opportunities with cloud storage services.

Using a will registry in British Columbia

Many people use the services of provincial will registries, which allow you to store details of your will where they can be located on your passing. Seen by many as a backup service, this is another way to ensure that legally binding documents will be available on your death.

Electronic wills in British Columbia

Like many provinces across Canada, BC authorities were forced to bring in an array of new regulations due to Covid-19. Some of these changes legalized the creation and witnessing of electronic documents, including wills. Even though many assumed this would be temporary, these changes have been written into BC law in relation to wills, estates and trusts.

What is an electronic will BC?

Under the new regulations, an electronic will is defined as in a form which can be:-

• Recorded or stored electronically
• Read by a person
• Reproduced in visible form

As part of the regulation change, it is now possible for the two witnesses to sign “in each other’s electronic presence”. This means that the witnesses sign the document simultaneously, even if they are not physically together. It is important to note that one of the witnesses should be a lawyer/notary public, and the document must be signed and witnessed in accordance with the regulations.

Altering and revoking electronic wills

Now we come onto the subject of altering and revoking electronic wills, which can be done in several ways:-

• Deleting an electronic version of the will with the intention of repealing it
• Destroying a paper copy of the will, with witnesses present, with the intention to delete the electronic copy
• Replace the electronic will with an up-to-date document
• Signed declaration from the will-maker revoking all or part of the electronic will

It is now as easy to create, edit, and destroy an electronic will as it is a paper copy. The fact that you can also store electronic wills in the cloud brings us onto the service we offer here at Time Secured.

Is it time to visit your will arrangements?

While many people are perfectly able to create their wills and arrange storage, it is not always that easy to ensure your instructions are honored upon your death. However, we can store your electronic will in the clouds using the Time Secured service. Then, using a regular check in system, we will be able to confirm that you are still alive. Finally, all of your electronic documents will be sent to the relevant parties on your passing. This will ensure that your instructions are carried out to the letter, as swiftly as possible.