Reflections - Hull on Estates #233
Listen: Reflections
This week on Hull on Estates, Julia Evans and Craig Vander Zee discuss the upcoming New Year and what one can do in respect to estate plans, such as Wills and power of attorneys.
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Craig R. Vander Zee - Click here for more information on Craig Vander Zee.
Reflections - Hull on Estates- Episode #233
Posted on December 21, 2010 by Hull & Hull LLP
Julia Evans: Hello and welcome to Hull on Estates. You’re listening to episode #233 on Tuesday, December 21st, 2010.
Welcome to Hull on Estates, a series of podcasts for the Canadian legal community dealing with issues and insights surrounding estate planning in Canada. Hosted by the lawyers of Hull & Hull, the podcast will touch on some key considerations when planning estates and wills. Now, here are today’s hosts.
Craig Vander Zee: Hi and welcome to another episode of Hull on Estates. I’m Craig Vander Zee.
Julia Evans: And I’m Julia Evans.
Craig Vander Zee: If you want to be heard on Hull on Estates, you can participate by leaving us a comment or an email, by emailing us at hull.lawyers@gmail.com or you can visit our blog at estatelaw.hullandhull.com. Hi Julia, how are you?
Julia Evans: Fine, Craig. How are you today?
Craig Vander Zee: Good and how is your holiday shopping going?
Julia Evans: Oh it’s slow but sure. There’s a long list to fill.
Craig Vander Zee: Well thankfully I guess from my end we have, or I have finished the holiday shopping. So it’ll be fantastic to see the kids through the holidays and opening up their presents.
Julia Evans: That’s fun.
Craig Vander Zee: Well with that in mind, and coming up to the holiday season and everyone celebrates the holiday season a little bit differently. But as we approach New Year, it’s a time when we look back over the past year and we look forward. And one of the things in our area of the law, the estates and trusts area of law is to think about what have we done or what might we do in respect of our estate plan.
Julia Evans: That’s very true and changes can happen that really perhaps should trigger changes in one’s Will or Power of Attorney documents over time and maybe we could take the opportunity with the New Year to review our circumstances, both our family and our financial circumstances, and decide whether or not we’re satisfied with the current Will or Power of Attorney documents we have in place.
Craig Vander Zee: Well that’s right. And people will obviously make, you know, the arrangements that they feel are necessary from their own particular standpoint and some estates are more complex than others. It may be that, you know, someone has done a Will and it may be out of date. It could be that if it was done 10 or 15 years ago, maybe their assets have changed. Maybe who they would like to have as executor has changed. Maybe there was, you know, unfortunately an intervening separation or divorce and happily perhaps a new family. And there could be a whole new set of circumstances which one can look at. And if a Will hasn’t been done, well maybe this is the year that, you know, one takes a look at their circumstances and decides how they wish to plan their estate. And, you know, as you mentioned with Powers of Attorney, maybe those too need to be revisited. You know, when I say Powers of Attorney – one for property and one for care. You know, is it the case that the restrictions or lack of restrictions are something that you want to revisit in the Powers of Attorney? Or is it the case that the person that you’ve appointed is still the person you want to have running your assets. Again it could be that if the Power of Attorney was done years ago, maybe your situation has changed and warrants a fresh look at things. And so, you know, as we turn the year and we have our hopes and our best wishes for our loved ones and our family and our friends, it’s a time to look introspectively and to see have we provided for those in the way that we want. Maybe there’s life insurance. Maybe there’s assets outside of an estate with designated beneficiaries and maybe those need to be looked at again with a fresh eye. And so we certainly at Hull & Hull wish all of our listeners a very happy holiday and a prosperous and healthy New Year. And just urge listeners to revisit their own personal situation and consider whether everyone they want to protect has been properly protected in the manner that they wish. And with that, I think with the last podcast of the year, Julia, I think I’ll wish you and your family a very Merry Christmas and happy holiday and a Happy New Year.
Julia Evans: Thank you, Craig. And a very happy holiday to your family too.
Craig Vander Zee: And with that, that would bring us to the end of our podcast today, Julia. Again thanks for listening and thanks for joining me today.
Julia Evans: It was a pleasure, Craig. I look forward to podcasting again with you soon.
Craig Vander Zee: And always a pleasure. And as we mentioned earlier, if someone would like to email us again they can email us at hull.lawyers@gmail.com. And again there’s lots of information on our website so be sure to visit our blogs at estatelaw.hullandhull.com where you’ll find even more information and discussion regarding the estate and trust practice. Until next time…
Julia Evans: I’m Julia Evans.
Craig Vander Zee: And I’m Craig Vander Zee.
This has been Hull on Estates with the lawyers of Hull & Hull. The podcast you have been listening to has been provided as an information service. It is a summary of current legal issues in estates and estate planning. It is not legal advice and you are reminded to always talk with a legal professional regarding your specific circumstances.
To listen to other podcasts, or to leave a question or comment, please visit our website at www.hullandhull.com.
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