Professional probate lawyers in calgary

Do you wonder what will happen to your estate after you're gone? Is dealing with estate-related conflicts affecting your well-being? Well, you should know you're not alone. 

Covid-19 was an eye-opener for citizens across Canada. A 2020 survey reported that over 30 percent of Canadians talked about properly protecting their estate during the pandemic. Yet, many of these conversations won't have accounted for a crucial step in this process. 

If the thought of handling an estate causes you anxiety, we are there to help. This guide will highlight 4 reasons to hire a lawyer to probate an estate. 

It can be difficult to discuss the prospect of serious illness or age-related cognitive decline with your parents, but it will be more difficult to handle health care decisions and financial matters if these conversations don’t take place in advance, while your parents have mental capacity to make a plan. Do your parents have enduring powers of attorney and personal directives? Do you understand the difference between the two, and the importance of having both an enduring power of attorney (“POA”) and a personal directive (“PD”) in the event of a parent’s incapacity? If you do not know the answers to these questions, you should read on for more info, or reach out to our team of experienced wills and probate lawyers in Calgary.

Probating is the legal process of validating a will and giving an executor the authority to act on the deceased’s behalf. This process is required in most circumstances, and you should consult a probate lawyer even if the will is not complicated. While in some circumstances a will may not need to be probated; only a lawyer can tell you for certain.

For their protection, banks, trust companies and other financial institutions need proof that an individual is the executor of an estate before turning over funds to them. If there’s no will, assets are divided in accordance with Alberta estate law, and family members can apply to be administrators of the estate.

Appointing someone under an enduring power of attorney means authorizing a person (usually a family member or friend) to make financial decisions and transactions on your behalf if you become mentally incapacitated. It is a wise precaution and one everyone, especially seniors, should seriously consider. 

If you have elderly parents and they haven’t yet begun to think about appointing an enduring power of attorney, you should begin discussing the subject with them. Here’s what you need to know.