SmartWills.ca

2021 Beginnings! What we call the beginning is often the end, And to make an end is to make a beginning. TS Eliot’s poem called Little Gidding was written in the 1940s. In the poem's final section, Eliot makes a case for the generative potential of an ending: What we call the beginning is often the end, And to make an end is to make a beginning. The end is where we start from.... Creating a Will and Estate Planning is a bit like Eliot’s quote. The end is where we start. A bit gruesome in some ways but planning for the future and your family is all about what we call the beginning. Looking back over 2020, there have been so many beginnings and firsts for us at Smartwills. Getting the website up, creating videos and podcasts. Organizing our first webinar with Watson Investments and having over 70+ people attend the program. Some were family and friends, but more were clients looking for information. Many people followed up with our free consultations to discuss where they were at and where they wanted to go. Everyone received value for their time and offered to us so many more creative avenues to explore to help you with your 2021 Beginnings. To obtain a free 1/2 consultation feel free to reach out to us at [email protected]

Life Triggers and Their Role in Estate Planning On Thursday, November 26th Jennifer Watson of Watson Investments and Peter Welsh of Smartwills.ca joined forces to discuss the triggers of life that often necessitate updating our Estate plans. For many individuals, this can include: starting a new business venture, the addition of a child or grandchild, loss of a family member, a marriage, divorce or separation, sometimes even challenges like bankruptcy. Many of these situations can cause an existing Will to be voided and there is a need to revisit your Estate plans for an update and refresh. https://smartwills.ca/life-triggers-and-their-role-in-esta/

PASSWORDS1 One other large impact we experienced this year was an even greater shift to online payment of bills and purchases, as many retailers shifted to online with so many business closures. This had us looking at the subject of passwords. We seem to need one for everything and the need to remember, replace and update can be a bit crazy making. This has led us to personally purchase a password tool keeper (there are paid and free versions) but also brought up the disc...ussion on how important it is to keep an organized file on all our accounts and passwords. In the case of illness or someone passing the need to know where this information is will be critical. Some common information needs may include: social media accounts and passwords, log in and passwords for all utilities, names of key doctors, family members, financial accounts, names of accountant, insurance advisor, financial planner, lawyer and where your original Will and Power of Attorney for Property and Personal Care are stored. For those of us that have noticed social media accounts that are still live after a person has passed, you can reach out to social media accounts like Facebook to have the account removed. Most often this requires the effort of the Executor, along with proof that the person has passed. How do I request the removal of a deceased family ... - Facebook www.facebook.com help One more item to remember but critical to your family’s ability to carry on.

Life Plans Meet Estate Planning This morning in the Globe & Mail Rob Carrik mentioned that it is Financial Literacy Month. He quotes some staggering numbers. TD Bank did a poll and found that 59% of people would rather go to the doctor for a physical than talk about money. Another 56% would rather clean their whole house. At Smartwills we have found less than 50% of consumers have a Will. To help you feel more comfortable, Smartwills.ca has joined forces with Watson Financial Planning to do a webinar on November 26th at 5:00 PM to discuss life plans and Estate Plans from a legal and financial planning perspective. To learn more go to smartwills.ca to register... https://smartwills.ca/sign-up/

This month in our newsletter we have been addressing some of the common triggers for an Estate Plan update. One of the blogs of interest was prepared by Eva Sachs a financial planner that focuses on separation and divorce. She offers some sage advise on the impact of separation and divorce on your Will. The link below provides her blog post on the subject. Enjoy! Tricia https://smartwills.ca/separation-divorce-and-wills/