Remote witnessing of wills and powers of attorney \u2014\u00a0<\/strong>As a result of Covid-19, virtual signing was permitted on a temporary basis under an emergency order. It has now become a permanent option, if at least one of the witnesses is a licensee of the Law Society of Ontario. While documents can be witnessed electronically, they may not be electronically signed.<\/p>\n Marriage not revoking a will<\/strong>\u00a0\u2014 Previously, marriage would revoke a pre-existing will. Now, Ontario wills prepared prior to marriage will continue to be valid. However, given that marriage can have an impact on family law entitlements and tax planning, it is beneficial to seek professional advice\u00a0regarding your will if a future marriage will change any intent. Spousal separation at the time of a testator\u2019s death \u2014<\/strong>\u00a0If spouses were separated, but not divorced, at the time of one spouse\u2019s death, the surviving spouse will no longer have default property rights. Separated spouses are now treated similarly to divorced spouses and the ex-spouse will be considered to have predeceased the testator, so any gift or appointment (such as a beneficiary designation) will be revoked.<\/p>\n Entitlement of a surviving spouse if no will exists<\/strong>\u00a0\u2014 If a spouse dies intestate (without a valid will), a surviving spouse was previously entitled to the first $200,000 of the estate. This amount has increased to $350,000, with one half of the excess going to the surviving spouse and the other half going to the children of the deceased. Given that this may not be the preferred division for your own assets, it is recommended to have a valid and up-to-date will to ensure your wishes are fulfilled as desired.<\/p>\n Ability of the courts to validate documents if not properly executed \u2014<\/strong>\u00a0If the courts are satisfied that a will or power of attorney adequately sets out the intention of the individual, even if the document has been improperly executed, the courts will be able to validate the documents. In the past, where there may have been minor technical errors that caused a will to become invalid, the rules of intestacy would have been implemented. This change may now provide some leniency under certain circumstances. As always, we recommend seeking the advice of an estate planning professional should any of these updates impact your own estate plan. If you are in need of an introduction to a specialist, please contact the office.<\/p>\n *The virtual witnessing of wills and powers of attorney came into effect on May 20, 2021. The other measures are expected to be in effect as of January 1, 2022.<\/em><\/p>\n The information contained herein has been provided for information purposes only. Graphs, charts and other numbers are used for illustrative purposes only and do not reflect future values or future performance of any investment. The information has been provided by J. Hirasawa & Associates and is drawn from sources believed to be reliable. As always, change is imminent! Ontario will be seeing some notable changes to estate planning law starting in 2022, as a result of Bill 245 receiving royal assent in 2021.* When was the last time you reviewed your estate plan? While many of these changes may not impact your current plan, it is a good […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":68,"featured_media":772,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_oasis_is_in_workflow":0,"_oasis_original":0,"_oasis_task_priority":"","_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[84,67,150],"class_list":["post-652","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-articles","tag-estate-planning","tag-financial-planning","tag-will-and-testament"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/advisor.wellington-altus.ca\/smokinbulls\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/652","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/advisor.wellington-altus.ca\/smokinbulls\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/advisor.wellington-altus.ca\/smokinbulls\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/advisor.wellington-altus.ca\/smokinbulls\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/68"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/advisor.wellington-altus.ca\/smokinbulls\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=652"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/advisor.wellington-altus.ca\/smokinbulls\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/652\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/advisor.wellington-altus.ca\/smokinbulls\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/772"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/advisor.wellington-altus.ca\/smokinbulls\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=652"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/advisor.wellington-altus.ca\/smokinbulls\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=652"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/advisor.wellington-altus.ca\/smokinbulls\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=652"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\n<\/strong><\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/towerwealth.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/Untitled-design-43-1.png\" "\\"Untitled")
<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/towerwealth.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/Tower-Wealth-Advisory-Blog-Images-2.png\" "\\"Tower")
<\/p>\n
\nThe information does not provide financial, legal, tax or investment advice. Particular investment, tax, or trading strategies should be evaluated relative to each individual\u2019s objectives and risk tolerance. This does not constitute a recommendation or solicitation to buy or sell securities of any kind. Market conditions may change which may impact the information contained in this document. Wellington-Altus Private Wealth Inc. (WAPW) and the authors do not guarantee the accuracy or completeness of the information contained herein, nor does WAPW, nor the authors, assume any liability for any loss that may result from the reliance by any person upon any such information or opinions. Before acting on any of the above, please contact me for individual financial advice based on your personal circumstances. WAPW is a member of the Canadian Investor Protection Fund and the Investment Industry Regulatory Organization of Canada.
\n\u00a9\ufe0f 2023, Wellington-Altus Private Wealth Inc. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. NO USE OR REPRODUCTION WITHOUT PERMISSION<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"