Estate Planning

When climate scientists say humans have a mere 12 years to avoid extreme consequences — floods, famine, fires and refugees — from a two- to three-degree rise in the average global temperature, it may be foolish to wait for governments to solve the problem. 

Do you have capacity?

If vacations, weddings, babies and football games are important enough to require planning, why don’t we plan for sickness, frailty and dying?

When Amy Profenna recently met with a lawyer to update her Will, one of the questions she was asked was if she wanted to be cremated.

It happens often that a deceased person leaves a sum of money to support a broad cause without naming a specific charity.

If people think they will no longer be paying taxes upon death, they are sadly mistaken. As Benjamin Franklin wrote, “in this world nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes.” 

Donations of real estate are a popular way to benefit a favourite charity.  Here are some of ways to donate real estate and the tax implications of this type of gift:

There already were a few children in line making a bowl of cereal or waiting for the toaster to pop when Jazmin Torres burst through the basement doors at 7:42 a.m. St. Paul’s Basilica in the Corktown neighbourhood of East Toronto.

Stocks, bonds and mutual funds make great gifts — just ask the parishioners at St. Patrick’s in downtown Toronto.

An estate gift to your parish or favourite charity can be your way of expressing what was important in your life. What follows are some of the ways people choose to remember charities in their estate plan.