Will Preparation Form

Information and Particulars for Preparation of a Will

The making of a Will is something that we all prefer to put off to a future date. Law reports are full of cases in which expensive litigation and undesired results could have been avoided by a properly drafted Will, but individuals just kept putting it off. A Will is an unselfish courtesy to your dependents and loved ones.

The letter provides an outline of the information required to draw up a Will. Upon completion, we will prepare a Will in draft form and contact you in order to review and prepare the final form for your signature

You may wish to make an appointment to discuss further your questions and obtain advice for a particular situation.

The Personal Representative for your estate are persons appointed to make decisions and handle the affairs of your estate. Where both husband and wife are making a Will, typically each would want to appoint the other as Personal Representatives and be resident in the Province in which you live, but this is not absolute requirement. Your Personal Representative(s) should have some knowledge of your affairs, and should be advised of the existence and location of your original Will.

Further Alternate Personal Representative(s)

(If you feel it is wise to name a person or persons alternate to the above.)

Bequest

A list of your assets is not required for the preparation of a Will. You may however, wish to give specific items from your Estate to a particular person. This is not recommended, but in some cases, there are items of value which a person may wish to hand down to certain individuals. If such items are to be included, please list them below. Describe each item in as much detail as possible and indicate the name and city of residence of the person who will receive them, and their relationship to you.

You may wish to give a specified amount of money to one or more persons, in which case the amount and the name of the beneficiary should be listed in the space below also.

If you are married, for each of the special bequest please indicate whether the bequest would go to the beneficiary before or after the death of your spouse.

Please be advised that specific bequests may be listed in your handwritten memorandum, rather than your Will, which will give you flexibility as a memorandum may be modified by you at any time, please advise us of your intentions.

Residue

The residue of your Estate is made up of all other property not referred to in the previous paragraph as being given to a particular person. It is most common that the entire residue is given to the surviving spouse. If it is your intention that the residue of the estate should go to your spouse, please place his/her full name in the space below. If the residue of the Estate is to be divided among persons in addition to or other than your spouse, please place their names, addresses and the proportion of percentage of the share in the space provided below.

It is also necessary to provide for the situation where your spouse has died before you. It is most common that the residue would be divided equally among your surviving children. If this is not your wish, you may then name one or more persons who would receive the residue of the Estate.

Please fill in the information in the space provided.

Trusts For Children

If you have the children under the age of eighteen(18) years, or other beneficiaries of the age of minority, or have named as beneficiaries persons under the age of majority you may wish to provide for them by giving your Personal Representative or Trustee a discretion to encroach upon the capital of the Estate for the unkeep and maintenance of the children or other beneficiaries.

There are several choices as to the details of how this will be handled. The legal age in Alberta is eighteen (18) years, but you may specify that your children or other beneficiaries will not receive the balance of their share of the Estate until whatever age you specify over eighteen years.

You may specify that each child or beneficiaries will obtain their respective share of the Estate as they attain the age of eighteen years, or postpone the distribution until the youngest attains the age of eighteen years ( or any other AGE which you have specified ). If there is a wide age spread between your oldest and youngest child, it may be wise to postpone the distribution until the youngest attains the age of eighteen years so that there will be sufficient interest from the capital of the estate to provide for living expenses for each child during their minority

Predeceased Child

The next choice you have to cover the possibility that at the time your children become eligible for the residue of the your estate, one of those children is not living. You may provide that the share that would have gone to the deceased child will be divided amongst your surviving children, or you may provide that the share may be handed down to any grandchildren (children of the deceased child). Please specify your choice of those alternatives below.

Guardian(s)

Guardians are those persons who are appointed to look after the day-to-day needs of your children during their age of minority. They will be called upon to take custody of the children, be responsible for the day-to-day upbringing of your children in the event of the death of both parents while the child is still under the age of eighteen years. Guardians may be the same person or persons as your Personal Representatives. It is advisable to request permission of the person named as Guardian to act in that capacity if required. You may wish to appoint a single individual or a couple as Guardian(s).

Alternate Guardian(s)

You may also wish to appoint alternate Guardian(s) in the event that the first named Guardian(s) are unable or unwilling to act.

Family Demise

If both you and your spouse, together with your children should die in a common incident, you should specify who you wish to receive your estate, whether it be your parents or other named beneficiaries.

RRSP and Life Insurance Policies

Please be advised that unlike all other assets you may own at the time of your death, your RRSP's and proceeds of any life insurance policy do not automatically become part of your estate, but are handled separately.