If you are not married, but cohabiting with someone, he or she may have a claim for maintenance or an interest in wealth acquired during your relationship.

Part 2 - Financial Information

Please record the assets you have and provide the requested information. If you have additional assets, please attach a separate listing.

Part 3 - Will Instructions

Who do you want to appoint as your executor(s) and trustee(s)? If appointing more than one person, please indicate whether primary, alternate, or joint.

We recommend that you contact the charity to confirm that you have the charity’s correct name, that it is a Canada Revenue Agency registered charity, and, if the gift is to be used for a particular charitable purpose, that the charity in fact carries on that purpose. Note that gifts of appreciated shares in publicly traded companies to a charity may be very tax effective.

Please check with the plan issuer as to the plan’s requirements for making a valid designation. Some plans require a prescribed form to be filed with them. Others do not permit a designation to be made by Will.

If your RRSP/RRIF beneficiary is not the beneficiary of your estate, you should know that the estate (not the RRSP beneficiary) may be responsible for the income taxes payable on your death with respect to your RRSP.

Legislation applicable to your pension plans may vary. The B.C. Pension Benefits Standards Act , for example , may require that your pension benefits be paid to your spouse. The definition of “spouse” may vary from plan to plan.

Please check with the pension plan administrator as to the plan’s requirements for making a valid designation. Some plans require a prescribed form to be filed with them. Others do not permit a designation to be made by Will.

Within 60 days of the end of the year in which you die, your executors may make a final contribution to a spousal RRSP.

If you have already designated a beneficiary with the insurance company, you do not have to duplicate the designation in your Will.

We recommend that you file a designation of beneficiary with the insurance company. If you change your designation by Will, do not file any further documents with the insurance company without consulting your lawyer.

If the gift is of real estate:

The residue of your estate consists of the assets remaining in your estate after payment of liabilities, taxes, specific gifts, legacies, and so on. If you want the residue of your estate to go to your spouse or partner and children, please complete A and B below. If you want it to go to someone else, please skip to section 13 below.

A. Provision for spouse or partner

If your spouse or partner is not happy with what you leave him or her, he or she may be able to make a claim under the B.C. Wills Variation Act for a larger share of your estate. Please prepare and give us a copy of a draft memorandum setting out in as much detail as possible the reasons for excluding or limiting the gifts to your spouse or partner or why he or she is neither in need nor deserving.

B. Provision for children

What provision do you want to make for your children after any prior provisions for your spouse or partner?

C. Alternate Beneficiaries

Whom do you want to receive your estate if none of your primary intended beneficiaries (that is, spouse/partner, children, grandchildren) lives to inherit?

Investments

If your executor needs to invest your estate, what kind of investments can your executor invest in?

Dealing with privately owned business

If your estate owns shares of a private company, or an interest in a business:

Loans to beneficiaries

Guarantees

Borrowing power

Estate assets