When parents divide their estate equally between their children, it usually feels like the fairest decision they’ll make. But if one of those children receives provincial disability benefits, an equal share left to them directly can put their monthly benefit and their health coverage at risk.

In this week's episode, I talk about why that happens and how parents and grandparents can leave a child on disability benefits the same share as their siblings without putting that support at risk. If you’ve heard the term Henson trust and wondered whether it applies to your family, this is a good place to start.

I also talk about a decision many families make without a second thought, and why it may matter more than anything else in the plan.

Because every province and territory runs its own disability program with its own rules, I share the questions worth asking a lawyer wherever your child lives.

Read the full article: https://nexsteps.ca/estate-planning/henson-trust/

Disclaimer: This content is for general information only and is not legal, financial, medical, or tax advice.

Who would handle your parents' finances if they couldn't? Who would make their healthcare decisions? Most families know they should ask. Many don't, until a crisis makes the decision for them.

Holidays, family dinners and quiet visits are some of the best chances we get to talk about a power of attorney and a personal or healthcare directive. Most of us still don't bring it up. Nobody wants to spoil a nice visit, so it gets left for next time.

In this episode and article, I talk about the conversation so many adult children keep putting off, and why it's worth having while everyone's still well. Whether you're watching a parent age, or you're a parent who'd rather make these decisions yourself, this episode is for you.

Read the full article.

Helpful tools:
Who Speaks for You?™: https://agapimarketing.com/who-speaks-for-you/
Your Voice Your Care™: https://agapimarketing.com/your-voice-your-care/
In Good Hands™: https://agapimarketing.com/in-good-hands/

Disclaimer: This content is for general information only and is not legal, financial, medical, or tax advice.

You named your daughter as executor. She's organized, she's fair, and her brothers trust her completely. She's also lived in Phoenix for eleven years, and nobody thought to ask what that would mean.

In this week's episode I look at what happens when the person named to settle an estate lives somewhere other than where the estate will be settled: What a Canadian court asks of them before they can act. Where the line gets drawn, province by province and territory by territory, and why it isn't drawn in the same place everywhere. How Quebec approaches the same question under the Civil Code. And the tax question sitting underneath it all, which is where the estate itself is considered to be managed once the person making the decisions is making them from another country.

None of this means you can't name the person you trust most. It means you should name them knowing what you're handing them. The article closes with the options that are actually open to you, and the conversation worth having before anything gets signed.

Read the full article.

Disclaimer: This content is for general information only and is not legal, financial, medical, or tax advice.