

How to create an alter ego series#
“If they have children or somebody they respect who can act as a trustee, they don’t have to be burdened by those decisions anymore.”įor someone with a series of investment portfolios, filing a personal tax return means preparing several income tax slips and compiling other information. Dementia rates are rising, and people tend to lose interest in managing their financial affairs when they’re over 75 because they find it too stressful, he says. Walsh strongly recommends alter ago or joint partner trusts, especially as clients get older. “Now it’s pretty seamless without having to invoke power of attorney and things like that, and this person can take care of your affairs.” 4. “Often people who get diagnosed with dementia will set one of these up at the early stage, and then they’ll have a child as the trustee,” Walsh says. Whenever you choose, you can appoint a trustee to act on your behalf and pay your bills. When you establish an alter ego trust, you usually transfer all of your assets to it and become the initial trustee, Walsh notes. “So if you want to disinherit people, you can do that.” 3. In other words, a child left out of your will can’t sue the executors of your estate to get back into the fold, Walsh explains. The good thing about will alternatives, particularly trusts, is that they’re exempt from the wills variation provisions in the provincial Wills, Estates and Succession Act (WESA).

“If you have significant assets that would be subject to probate, which is about 1.4 per cent, you can avoid that fee,” Walsh says. In B.C., alter ego and joint partner trusts aren’t subject to probate, the fee due on a deceased person’s estate. But they do offer four powerful benefits. Contrary to popular belief, these trusts have no income tax advantages, says Walsh King partner Kevin Walsh. The former is created by an individual, while the latter is for two spouses, whether they’re common-law or married. Looking to leave more of your estate to the family after you’re gone-or keep a child out of your will? At age 65, you can do both by establishing an alter ego or a joint partner trust.
