When I started with the Archdiocese of Toronto almost 21 years ago, I mentioned that one area of fund development that I was not strong in was planned giving. Soon after, we made a decision to commit resources to the area of Wills and estates, and today as an archdiocese we have over 100 open estate files at any given time, plus we annually process over 150 gifts of securities and have over 1,000 people per year attending our estate planning sessions, which take place both in person and virtually throughout the year.   

We also hold an annual Mass for members of our Legacy Society to thank them for including a gift in their Will to any part of the archdiocese. We are now looking into the establishment an archdiocesan Donor Advised Fund to allow parishioners to make contributions, which will then disburse donations to charitable entities in line with our faith based on recommendations made by the donor. 

There is a lot of activity in the area of planned giving, and we are blessed to have parishioners across the archdiocese who have included their parish or an archdiocesan related entity in their estate plan.

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Over time, we have come across instances where the processing of an estate has become difficult and stretched over a long period of time. From these situations, we have been able to share advice during our estate planning sessions to help others to avoid similar issues in the eventual administration of their estate. I would like to share a couple of examples here, and the “lesson learned” that we pass on during our presentations.

We learned of a situation where a couple adopted two young children, and over time relations became strained between the parents and one child to the extent which the father wrote in his Will that this particular child was not to benefit in any way from his estate after his death. He named his wife and the other child as executors and beneficiaries of his estate.

Over time, his wife, and then the daughter who was named as an executor, passed away. Eventually the father passed away as well and the court had no other option but to treat this case as if the father dies intestate, because both beneficiaries mentioned in his Will had passed away before him and his Will became an invalid document. As the only living relative, his estranged daughter inherited everything he had! 

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The “lesson learned” here is that as circumstances change — a death, change of marriage situation, etc. — it is important to update your Will to reflect the current reality. Not doing so could result in someone that you did not want to benefit from your estate actually doing so.

Another situation that we have come across was where an individual removed his original Will from his lawyer’s office but never replaced it with an updated version. Eventually the individual passed away. In the Will, the testator named relatives in another country, charities and parishes as beneficiaries of their estate. The archdiocese had a photocopy of the original Will that had been drawn up.

Not long after the individual passed away, a relative living in Canada (not named as a beneficiary) came forward and petitioned the court to have them named as the beneficiary of the estate. Their argument was that the named beneficiaries did not have original copies of the Will, and since the original Will was removed from the lawyer’s office previously it was deemed to either have been destroyed or removed with the intention to change that document. This matter evolved over a few years, and the eventual result, through mediation, was that the relative who came forward, and based on our assessment did not have a strong relationship with the deceased, received a substantial settlement from the deceased’s assets.

The “lesson learned” here is that one should always keep an original copy of their Will in their lawyer’s office, and if there is a need to change or update their document to ensure that an original copy remains in the hands of their solicitor.

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These are but two of many examples that we have encountered over the years from which we have been able to share “best practices” as part of our estate planning sessions. In short, if your life circumstances change to the extent that it will affect your end-of-life plans, ensure that you update your Will and that an original copy remains with your lawyer.

(Peters is director of the Development Office with the Archdiocese of Toronto.)