WILLS AND POA

Basic wills and POAs

Although I am primarily a family law lawyer, I also do basic wills (there are some complex trust arrangements that you would need a specialized estates lawyer to do but I can handle wills for what most people want to do) and powers of attorney.

Why do you need a will?

  1. Because you want to decide who will administer your estate when you die rather than have a court appoint someone to do it.
  2. Because you have children and you want to decide who will care for them if both you and your spouse die.
  3. Because you have children that you want to leave property for but you don’t want them to have full control over it when they are 18.
  4. Because you want to decide what will happen to your property.
  5. Because at the time when your friends and family are grieving for your loss, you want things to be as smooth as you can for them rather than make them deal with the much increased bureaucracy that is necessary if you die without a will.

What is a power of attorney and why do I need one?  A power of attorney is a document that states who you want to make decisions on your behalf if you are not dead but are incapable of governing your own affairs (for example if you were in a coma).  A financial power of attorney empowers someone whom you trust to be able to take money out of your account to pay for your expenses, make investment decisions, make decisions about whether to sell or rent out some of your property in order to pay for the things that you need and other complex decisions like that.  A power of attorney for health makes decisions about what medical care you will accept or refuse.  These are vital decisions.  You want to be the person to decide who will make these decisions.

I offer a flat rate of $500 plus HST for a basic will, a power of attorney for health and a power of attorney for finances.  For two people who come in together I charge $700 plus HST.