It can get better - simplifying end-of-life work

As I was proofreading How to Laugh at Death and Taxes, I remembered the frustrations and time delays caused by so many of the little administrative requirements – probate, tax, financial, and others – and promised myself that some day I would do something about them.  Despite the image here of Don Quixote charging off to do battle – and we all know what happened with him – we think that governments, professionals, and everyone else know there are problems and want to improve things.

If people are unprepared, the well-being of not just people affected today, but also those in the future, will suffer.  This is not just an old-folks issue – it spans all ages.  Baby boomers currently make up nearly a quarter of all Canadians. With baby boomer deaths increasing, the process to transfer wealth – in excess of $1 trillion this decade – between generations is messy and getting messier because it’s occurring in an increasingly complex legal, tax, and financial environment ill-prepared to cope with the onslaught of work despite government efforts to streamline.  For example, some professionals estimate that the time needed to probate a will in the Greater Toronto Area has now more than doubled to 8-9 months; the time for tax authorities to issue tax clearance certificates now exceeds a year as compared to the CRA's goal of 6 months).  This means many people will have to pay probate fees and taxes well before estate proceeds are available to pay them.

After speaking to several people on a mission to help Canadians prepare for the inevitable end of life, we decided to do something about it.  We picked five issues we think can be addressed with little or no legislative change or cost, and that will materially help make things as easy as possible for families and their executors preparing for and coping with the death of a family member.  The five are:

1. Expedite delivery of notices of death: The delay of governments, financial institutions, and consumer reporting agencies receiving notices of death causes problems and adds financial risk for executors and beneficiaries.
2. Promote getting powers of attorney (PoAs) and wills: Too few Canadians – less than half – have them and this creates a whole new level of problem when someone becomes incapacitated or dies.
3. Help executors act:  Many people named as PoAs and executors have no experience or training in what is required, which can lead to errors and delays.
4. Materially reduce the opportunity for financial identity theft:  Credit reporting agencies are a key linchpin in preventing financial losses and making executors aware of debts of the deceased.
5. Making the right information at the right time more accessible:  Many people grappling with settling a person’s estate don’t know where to go or what to do and they delay in engaging estate lawyers and tax professionals because of cost concerns.

For more detail on the things we think need to be addressed, please read our letter to the Ontario government (use Chrome or Edge to access this if you can't open this link).  And how about you? Have you come up against blocks as you try to move forward to prepare for or settle an estate?  Please let us know by emailing [email protected] because these five are just the beginning.

#executor #estate #probate #taxes #wills