Business Continuity And Success Of Ownership Is Essential
Effective estate planning facilitates the orderly transfer of assets to your beneficiaries, provides security for your surviving family, and can reduce or eliminate the tax due on the transfer of your assets. And, while part of this plan may include various wills, there are many other estate planning tools that should be used to ensure that you and your family are properly taken care of.
Wills
The primary purpose of a will is to allow you to decide how your accumulated assets should be distributed upon your passing. This can include who will gain ownership of various properties, how your business investments should be handled and what proportion of your assets should go to each of your beneficiaries.
Most importantly, a will allows you to mediate the asset transfer process and minimize the tension between family members by putting your wishes into writing. Multiple wills are an integral part of your estate planning.
Power of Attorney
A Power of Attorney document outlines who can make decisions on your behalf, under specific circumstances. In Ontario, there are three different kinds of Power of Attorneys.
The first two are Powers of Attorney for Property, which allow the person of your choosing the ability to manage your finances.
A Continuing Power of Attorney for Property (CPOA) will make financial decisions on your behalf, even if you become mentally incapable, while a Non-Continuing Power of Attorney ends once you lose capacity.
Under either Power of Attorney for Property, your designated attorney will have the right to pay bills, manage income and file taxes on your behalf.
The third Power of Attorney is a Power of Attorney for Personal Care (POAPC) who will make personal decision on your behalf. This includes housing and health care decisions.
The benefit to choosing your own attorney, as opposed to having the court designate an attorney, is that you can choose someone you trust, whom you know will manage your money and personal affairs as you would.
Trusts
Surprisingly, more than 60% of people pass away without ever making a will. And today, those that do have a will think that it will be enough to ensure that their assets are properly distributed upon their passing and that their tax liability will be minimized. However, with changing laws, and a number of other factors, this may not be the case.
Trusts are an effective tool to ensure that your objectives are met. They are a separate legal entity that can help mitigate additional risks and further simplify the estate transferring process.
Specifically, trusts can:
- Reduce you tax liabilities and decrease capital gains
- Add an additional layer of protection that will better ensure your wishes are not challenged
- Reduce or eliminate the probate process, saving your family time and money
- Avoid additional probate and estate liabilities on out-of-province real estate
- Help you manage how an asset is handled – i.e. requiring someone to go to college before they receive their share of the estate or limiting how it is spent, etc.
- Protect family assets from lawsuit and divorce
Business Succession Planning
For business owners, providing for business continuity and succession of ownership is essential and helps ensure its continued success. While simply leaving it to your beneficiary by way of a will is possible, it may not be the most effective way to succeed your business.
Other estate planning tools exist that can better protect your business, by ensuring your business is transferred to the intended successor, without contention, while ensuring you have minimized tax liabilities. These tools can also ensure you protect your retirement income, if you’re depending on the company’s revenue.
With a solid background in tax, succession and estate planning, and other financial matters, we are fully qualified to address the complex issues of business continuation.
Get more information about Business Succession Planning here.
At Koroll & Company, we can guide you through the complex process of getting your financial affairs in order and help you to design your estate in a way that protects your wealth while also ensuring that your business, and other assets, are transferred to your intended beneficiaries, with minimal tax liabilities.