Baycrest

Wills and Estates: Advice from experts More than 60 Baycrest volunteers had some financial food-for- thought to reflect on at a luncheon hosted by The Baycrest Foundation during Volunteer Appreciation Week in June. The group heard from two experts about the importance of having an up-to-date will and tax planning strategies in retirement. Ashley Doidge, a former longtime volunteer at Baycrest who is now an estates lawyer with Stancer, Gossin, Rose LLP, spoke about a couple that had been together for more than 40 years but hadn't done their wills. When the man died, his common-law wife did not have a statutory right to her husband's assets. Instead his children from a previous marriage had the right to inherit his assets. The only thing the common law wife could do was sue the estate for support. In another case, a will from a "will kit" was not considered valid. Doidge also noted that if a person already has a will – and subsequently gets married – the marriage can revoke the will. She recommended reviewing your will every three years to see if anything should be changed. And the best place to store your will? "Keep it in your lawyer's vault," she advised, adding that an executor won't be able to prove that he/she is the executor if the will is inaccessible and locked in a safety deposit box. Accountant Ali Spinner, a tax partner at Crowe Soberman, noted that if someone passes away and doesn't have a spouse, any money in the person's RRSP or RRIF will be taxed all at once at a rate of 54 per cent if the amount is over $220,000. For example, if an RRSP is worth $1 million, heirs would only receive $460,000 after taxes. For that reason, Spinner said it might be advisable to consider taking some money out of an RRSP in the years when income is lower and your tax rate is closer to 30 per cent. She also explained government incentives for charitable giving. The most tax effective method of giving is a donation of stock that has appreciated in value because you won't pay capital gains tax and you will also get a charitable tax credit, she said. Another tip: Rather than letting a no-longer- necessary life insurance policy lapse, it can be structured so that proceeds will go to a charity of your choice. The luncheon audience was appreciative of the insights provided by Spinner and Doidge, and followed up with numerous questions. "I thought it was very good, very useful, very informative," said Rachel Parshan, who attended with her husband Joseph, a Baycrest volunteer. Yetta Lewis agreed. "I was impressed. I enjoyed it thoroughly – there were things I hadn't been clear on, which I found interesting," said Lewis, who volunteers in the Baycrest SAGE program doing simulation activities in gerontological education. Baycrest is grateful for the contributions of our volunteers, who collectively donate about 90,000 hours of their time and talent to the organization. 4

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