Insights

In this episode, Mark Walhout addresses a viewer's question about distributing their home between their sons to avoid probate. He outlines the potential risks and tax implications of adding children to the title of a property, including loss of control and legal exposure. Mark also discusses alternative strategies like using an alter ego trust to meet estate planning goals while minimizing risks. Learn what steps to take and who to consult for devising an effective estate plan.

Today we're going to talk about a mailbag question that came in from a viewer asking about how to treat the proceeds of a RRIF that fell into their deceased parent's estate. I'm going to step you through the question, some of the considerations that the viewer asked me to cover, and I'm going to walk through the answer that I provided to them in email.

I recently posted a video discussing the Question “Is there an inheritance Tax in Canada?” and it got a lot of interest and generated a ton of great questions and feedback. So, today is a longer “Part 2” video discussing the answers to some of the most common probate and estate planning questions including the benefits of probate, when probate is mandatory, dealing with estates without going through probate, different probate rules by province, and some examples of both good and bad estate planning.

So in this video, I'm going to talk about the probate process, how it works in the event of somebody passing away who owns a home that wants their child to inherit that property, what the difference is between probate and capital gains taxes and other forms of tax that might be payable when someone passes away. And hopefully some of this will relieve any concerns you might have about inheritance taxes and maybe help you avoid make. Planning mistakes as you try to avoid this inheritance tax that doesn't exist.

In today’s videos I am going to briefly outline different types of life insurance, why insurance is sometimes misused, good reasons for retirees to hold life insurance and some not so good reasons that people hold life insurance in retirement.

A recent study by Ipsos Reid and the OSC found that over 40% of Canadian retirees who were surveyed indicated that they do not presently have a Power of Attorney for property. This is a staggering number. The Power of Attorney for property may be one of the most important documents that you ever sign. It gives a person or persons the authority to handle your property on your behalf when you become unable to. In this video, I am going to walk through: 1. What a Power of Attorney for property document does 2. Why the document is important 3. Common issues that I see with powers of attorney and why they should be checked regularly 4. Important factors for retirees to consider when drafting a power of attorney for property

Whenever retirees hear the word “probate” they immediately feel the urge to avoid it at all costs. This may cause them to take steps that they believe are harmless and will allow them to avoid this process. Commonly, one of these steps is adding their adult children as joint owners on their bank accounts and some investment accounts. The idea being that they can continue to enjoy the assets while they are alive, they can get their kids’ help managing the assets as they age, and when they eventually pass away, those assets can go around the estate. But what many retirees don’t understand is the risks and issues that they are taking on when they make these changes.

In this video I walk through some estate planning considerations for Tax-Free Savings Accounts. I am going to explain how beneficiary designations work for TFSA’s when you pass away and explain a useful approach to passing your TFSA along to your spouse when you pass away that will save you time and frustration.

Are you approaching retirement, or in retirement, and wondering - when is it a good time for me to add my kids as joint owners on my investment accounts? Perhaps you want to smooth the process of getting those assets to your children later on, or you want to avoid the estate process, or possibly avoid taxes. While these may be noble intentions - adding adult children to investment accounts may carry consequences that you want to avoid.