Estate planning conundrum: how to make a somber task less daunting

By Blair Botsford MA ’95

Blair Botsford MA ’95 is an estate, trust, tax, and family office law partner in the Toronto office of Dentons, a leading global law firm. She originally posted this on LinkedIn and has kindly agreed to let McMaster republish it here. We hope her article brings you clarity and optimism on the topic of estate planning. 

The prospect of estate planning can seem daunting for various reasons:

• The belief that you need to be rich or a certain kind of rich to have an estate
• Thoughts of mortality, illness or disability
• Confronting your relationship with others such as spouse, parents, children or business partners, and how they may expect to be treated compared to how you believe they should be treated
• Not knowing what your estate will look like in the future and whether you “have enough”
• Not knowing who to pick for certain roles such as executor or guardian of minor children
  Wondering how your decisions will be perceived by others and if, or how, you should talk to them
• All the rules, rules, rules that govern estate planning
• You are paying now for something that benefits others in the future, and you won’t be there to see them enjoy and appreciate the fruits of your hard work
• Lawyers

It’s not “doom and gloom” 

Like many things that make us feel uncomfortable, estate planning often is not as difficult or unpleasant as imagined and can even provide a sense of peace and accomplishment. How can this be achieved?

First the good news: everyone has an estate. The term just means all that you own and owe at any given moment in time. Excuse number one for not doing estate planning – gone. Now for some suggestions on how to make the process more productive and possibly appealing.

Generally, we do not know when we might die, become disabled or experience a serious illness, and it is difficult to forecast far into the future in any event. Therefore, the planning horizon should be a maximum of five years and recognize the possibility of something happening between year one and year five. Your planning does not need to be perfect because life changes and, as it does, you can make incremental changes to suit your new circumstances.

Questions to ask yourself during estate planning 

Here is a list of issues to consider, working back from the end, to help guide you through the personal thought process.

Imagine yourself five years in the future. Consider what your personal and professional life looks like. What are you doing for work and recreation and who is close to you?

Now, ask yourself these questions and make note of the answers:

• I’m dead, now what?
• Who is left behind?
• What duties do I owe those left behind?
• What needs to be in place to assist those I will leave behind?
  • Money and other assets – what kind, how managed and when to be distributed net of expenses and taxes?
  • How to structure your estate such as wills, trusts and who will be the executor, trustee, guardian for minors?
  • How do I want to be remembered by family, friends, community, business colleagues?
• What’s my funeral going to look like?
  • What type of process?
  • What type of services?
  • Who will be there and who won’t?
  • What type of marker, if any?
  • Will my executor know my wishes, and will family and others respect them?
• What will my end of life look like?
  • Who will be there with me?
  • What will my surroundings be?
  • What will give me comfort and happiness?
  • What will I or won’t I consent to and why?
  • Who is best able to make decisions for me the way I would if unable – financial and care?
  • How much will this cost and do I have enough money?
  • Will people know and respect my wishes?
• What needs to be in place if I suffer a serious illness or disability?
  • Where to live?
  • How to live – lifestyle considerations?
  • Who to care for me – physically and emotionally?
  • Who to make decisions – financial and care?
  • How much will this cost and do I have enough money?
  • Will people know and respect my wishes?
• What do I want the next five years of my life to look like?
  • What is my role in my community?
  • What will I be doing professionally?
  • What will I be doing personally?
  • Who is in my life and what duties do I owe them?
  • Will people know and respect my wishes?

What happens next? 

In summary, you want to break the next five years into several categories and work backwards. You can adjust the details above to suit your own circumstances, but key issues such as who is in my life at the relevant time and what duties do I owe them should remain, as well as what are your wishes and will people know and respect them.

• What happens if you die?
• What will you end of life look like?
• What needs to be in place if you suffer a serious illness or disability?
• What do you hope or expect to happen in the next five years and are you, and those around you, ready if the worst happens?

Now it’s time to take inventory and list the usual data needed for the estate planning process since, as the saying goes, you are where you are. Once you have gone through this process and started to organize your thoughts and information, professionals such as accountants, lawyers, financial advisors can help put it into perspective so can achieve your goals. There are facilitators who can even help you communicate your wishes to those who need to know because sometimes documents don’t say it all or clearly.

Estate planning only feels like a huge mountain to climb. Tackled thoughtfully and methodically, it is possible to plan well, live well, and leave an organized estate.