Planning Your Will, Powers of Attorney and Living Will Decisions Record

DECISIONS RECORD

This section will lead you through the decisions you have to make in preparing your will.

Your Executor / Trustee

Who is your first choice to be your executor(s) / trustee(s) after you have died?

Name and Address

RelationshipPhone

Who is your second choice to be your executor(s) / trustee(s) after you have died?

Name and Address

RelationshipPhone

You may specify a further alternate executor(s) / trustee(s) who will take office if the first and second alternate is unwilling or unable to become or continue as executor(s) / trustee(s).

Name and Address

RelationshipPhone

Guardians for Your Minor Children

Who is your first choice to be the guardian(s) of your minor children after you both have died?

Name and Address

RelationshipPhone

You may wish to specify further alternate guardians who will take office if your first choice is unwilling or unable to become or continue as guardian.

Name and Address

RelationshipPhone

Division of Estate Among Beneficiaries

Gifts

Do you want to make any gifts with priority over the gift to your spouse? Yes  No

Gift / From / To / Relationship

Personal Items

When preparing your will you may wish to leave specific personal items to specific individuals or children.

Do you wish to give a specific item to someone? Yes  No

Gift / From / To / Relationship

Gifts of Residue Other Than to Children

The normal format of wills is that when the second spouse dies, the estate is divided among the children, usually equally.

You may not want everything divided equally among your children. You may want to make a gift to someone (friend, charity) after both of you have died, or you may want to make specific gifts to one or more of your children.

If you make a gift with priority over the division of the residue among your children, it will be taken out of your estate prior to the balance of the estate being divided among them. Many people do not make any such gifts.

Do you want to make any gifts with priority over the division of your estate
among your children? Yes  No

Gift / From / To / Relationship

Division of Residue Among Children

In what proportions do you want the residue of your estate divided among your children?

Equally / Other(please provide particulars):
Child / Share of Estate

Disposition of Shares of Children Who Die Before Receiving their Shares

What will happen to the share of the child who dies before receiving his or her share? Most people specify that if the deceased child leaves children, the share of the deceased child is to be divided equally among those children (i.e., the grandchildren of the person making the Will); otherwise, the share goes to the other children of the person making the will and not to the grandchildren of the deceased child.

How do you want to deal with the share of a child who dies before receiving his/her inheritance?

To the child’s children? Yes  No

Other (please specify)

Ultimate Disposition Clause

It is an irony of Will planning that the more remote the probability of an event occurring, the more thought has to go into anticipating how to deal with it. This is most clearly the case in considering the ultimate disposition clause, which deals with the disposition of what is left in your estate if both spouses and all children, grandchildren, etc. die before the estate is completely distributed.

If you have young children, an ultimate disposition clause is very important because of the possibility of a calamity or series of calamities that wipes out the entire family.

If you have several grown-up children with children of their own, you probably do not need an ultimate disposition clause because the chance of there being no beneficiaries to inherit from your estate is so remote.

You may find it helpful to draw family trees for both sides of the family when considering your ultimate disposition clause.

To ensure that the order in which the spouses die has no effect on the distribution of the family’s assets, the same ultimate disposition clause goes in both spouse’s Wills.

What do you want in the ultimate disposition clause in your will?

Administration of Your Estate

This section allows you to tell the Executor / Trustee how to administer your estate and when to make the gifts to the beneficiaries and how to use the income and capital of the estate.

When do you want your estate transferred to your beneficiaries?

When do you want your beneficiaries’ shares delivered to them?

As Soon as Practical After Your Death
At Age(s)
Other (please specify)

What encroachment power do you want your executor / trustee to have?

On Income / For Education
On Capital / For Advancement in Life
For Maintenance / To Relieve the Children’s Care-givers of any Additional Financial Burden
Other (please specify)

Funeral Arrangements

Please consider the following questions.

Do you wish a funeral or memorial service? Yes  No

Please specify

Do you wish your remains to be buried? Yes  No

Do you wish your remains to be cremated? Yes  No

Do you wish to make any organ donations or to donate your remains for medical study? Yes  No

Please specify

Do you wish friends and relatives to make any monetary donations after your death
in lieu of gifts or flowers? Yes  No

Please specify

Power of Attorney

The Substitute Decisions Act (Ontario) and Powers of Attorney Act (in other provinces) allows you to appoint an attorney or attorneys to act for you in the event you are unable or incapable of acting. This legislation also allows you to appoint someone to make health care decisions for you in the event you cannot.

Who is your first choice to be your attorney over your property?

NameRelationship

Who is your second choice to be your attorney over your property?

NameRelationship

Who is your alternate choice to be your attorney over your property?

NameRelationship

Are there any restrictions you wish to place on your attorney? Yes  No

Please specify

Who is your first choice to be your attorney over your personal care?

NameRelationship

Who is your second choice to be your attorney over your personal care?

NameRelationship

Who is your alternate choice to be your attorney over your personal care?

NameRelationship

Are there any specific instructions you wish to give your attorney
regarding your health care? Yes  No

Is there a specific physician you wish consulted? Yes  No

Who?

Address

Living Will

In certain provinces, recent changes in legislation permit you to refuse consent to health care in the event you are terminally ill and you cannot communicate your wishes.

Do you suffer from any major illness? Yes  No

Have you consulted your physician about a living will? Yes  No

Do you wish to provide instructions about your care in the event you are terminally ill
and cannot communicate? Yes  No

Please specify

Other Matters

List any other matters you wish to discuss at our meeting.

Attachments

Please bring the following documents to our meeting.

  • Social Insurance Card
  • Birth Certificate
  • Deed and Mortgages for Property
  • Vehicle Registrations
  • Recent Statement of Account for Investments
  • Recent Statement of Account for RRSPs, RRIFs, Pension
  • All Life Insurance Policies
  • Appraisals for Personal Property