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Tuesday, November 10, 2009

Papers, Papers, Papers

I just came across these PDF papers that I've written for the Legal Education Society of Alberta (LESA) over the past year or so and presented to Alberta lawyers in seminars.

This paper, Beneficiary Designations: A Practical Guide, contains a potpourri of quick topics which touch on making and revoking beneficiary designations for policies, pensions and financial instruments. The goal is to ensure that all aspects of estate planning work together.

All estate planning involves thinking about taxation. So does the administration of an estate after an individual has passed away. This paper, Taxation of the Average Estate, is written for those who do not specialize in taxation and discusses taxation issues that will be encountered in the planning or administration of most estates.

Readability is accessibility, particularly when it comes to legal documents, but accuracy can't be sacrificed. This paper is a guide to help legal assistants and new lawyers prepare legal documents that clients can actually read and use.


11 comments:

  1. My husband has two adult daughters from a previous marriage. If he passes away without a will; what would go to me and what would go to them? We are in BC.

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    Replies
    1. You would get the household possessions. You would also get the first $150,000 of the estate. Of the rest, you'd get half and they'd split the other half.

      Lynne

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  2. My husband is refusing to get a will together. He has two children from a prevous marrige. We have been married 7 years and live in Halifax, NS. He has a monthly pension. What would happen with no will?

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    Replies
    1. Hi Beverly,
      You would receive any property that is jointly owned by the two of you.

      You would receive anything that designates you as a beneficiary. This most likely includes his pension as most pension plans require people to name their spouse as beneficiary, but obviously I can't know that for sure at this point.

      If his estate is $50,000 or less, you get the whole estate.

      If his estate is more than $50,000, you get the first $50,000 plus 1/3 of the rest. The other 2/3 is split among all of his children, including the two from the previous marriage.

      That's a brief overview based on the general rules.

      Lynne

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  3. Fist of all thank you Lynn for sharing your knowledge of estate law it is very much appreciated.
    My question is:
    If a man divorces and re-marries in BC, does his Canada pension automatically go to his new wife, or would it go to his 1st wife if he has not changed it?

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  4. To answer my own question (in case anyone else is wondering); I looked up info on Canadian pensions, and it does automatically go to the surviving present spouse, not to the ex. But the spouse only gets about 37% of the pension as the beneficiary, not the 100% of it that the person him/herself would get.

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    Replies
    1. Hi Moneca. Sorry I didn't get to your question before you found the answer. I agree that the pension will go to the new spouse if the pensionable person doesn't make a change of beneficiary. However, it is possible that a former spouse can apply to split the pension that was earned during the time the exes were married.

      Lynne

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  5. My husband passed away in January, his father passed away in March. His mother passed years earlier. Who is entitled to my husbands share of the estate. This was in Ontario.

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    Replies
    1. Hi Michelle,
      Presumably the mother's estate was wound up already and you are asking about the father's estate. The answer depends on whether the father had a will and what that will says.

      The most common arrangement says that if a son predeceases his parent, the son's children gets the son's share. This is also the usual way that intestacy law works. Like I said, that's the most common arrangement but the will could very well say something else. For example, it could say that the son's share goes to his siblings. Without seeing the will, I couldn't say for sure.

      It is a reasonable question though, assuming that you and your husband have children. If you know who the executor of his father's will is, ask that person directly what is happening to the share your husband would have received.

      Lynne

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  6. My child's father passed away he left his work life insurance to an ex-girlfriend from 15 years ago who is now married with her own two children does she really get his life insurance and does his child get nothing

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    Replies
    1. Hi Rachel,
      The most likely answer is that she will still get the life insurance. This is because the owner of the policy gets to choose the beneficiary. The policy is not in the estate so you can't contest the estate to get it.

      Now, having said that, claiming against the policy is not impossible. If your child is an adult, your chances of the child being successful are pretty slim. If the child is a minor or is disabled, and if the child really is not getting anything at all from the estate, then he or she would have a greater chance.

      Keep in mind that if the child doesn't get anything directly but YOU do, the law will see that as a benefit to the child too.

      This is a tough situation and a tough call on whether you should try to contest the policy. If someone asked me this at my office I would do some legal research on the topic before giving a legal opinion because it's not something that I have seen litigated lately. What I've set out for you here is my initial reaction without having done the research.

      Lynne

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