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 CIBC Private Wealth, Wood Gundy  CIBC Private Wealth, Wood Gundy

The O'Keeffe-Basu Group

  • Home
  • Our Team
  • Integrated Planning
    • Our Holistic Wealth Management Process
    • For Your Estate & Wealth Protection
    • For Business Owners
  • Disciplined Investing
  • Interesting Reading
    • Business owners
    • Financial Planning
    • Tax & Estate Planning
  • Market Insights
  • Contact Us
 

For Your Estate & Wealth Protection

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For Your Estate & Wealth Protection

Integrated Planning For Your Estate and Wealth Protection

Estate planning is about reducing or eliminating the uncertainties over the administration and distribution of your estate, or maximizing the value that gets passed on to your heirs. It is not only for the wealthy - everyone should have a well thought out estate plan. When structured properly, this plan can reduce taxes and expenses to your estate and simplify and expedite the transition of your wealth to your beneficiaries.

Why should I have an estate plan?

In crafting an estate plan, there are 2 simple questions we're looking to address:

  1. If something happens to me today, would my family be okay
  2. Is there anything I can do today to make things easier for my family when I pass away

The key rationale for creating an estate plan is for you to articulate how you would like your assets distributed and/or protected after you've passed away. In creating an estate plan, some of the things we look at include:

  • In the event of death of one spouse, is there sufficient capital to provide for the survivor
  • Protecting your assets from subsequent marriages of a surviving spouse
  • Protecting your assets from your children's' marriage breakdown
  • Protecting young children from inheriting large amounts at young ages

What is the first step to creating an estate plan?

The financial plan helps us identify the critical issues that should be addressed immediately, and provides some insight into the things you should consider in crafting your estate plan.

Our role in this process is to help you identify where the potential gaps are in your estate plan, what can be done to address them, where the potential opportunities are, and how to maximize on their value.

Some common gaps:

  • Lack of a will
  • Lack of financial and/or medical powers of attorney
  • Insufficient life insurance
  • No business succession plan
  • Appropriate clauses in wills and PoAs

Some common opportunities:

  • Use of trusts
  • Planned giving during your lifetime
  • Estate tax minimization strategies
  • Estate enhancement strategies

The importance of a will

The first step of an estate plan is drafting a will. Passing away intestate (without a will) results in your assets getting distributed as per provincial law, which does not necessarily agree with your wishes. Many are surprised to learn that one spouse passing away does not automatically result in the surviving spouse's entitlement to those assets or that common law partnerships are not recognized the same as legal marriages in many provinces, further complicating matters.

Without a will, you give up the right to make many decisions, including:

  • Who will manage your estate
  • Who will inherit your estate assets
  • Who will be responsible for your liabilities (debts)
  • When will estate assets be distributed
  • What steps could be taken to minimize estate taxes

Read more about will planning here.

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CIBC Private Wealth” consists of services provided by CIBC and certain of its subsidiaries through CIBC Private Banking; CIBC Private Investment Counsel, a division of CIBC Asset Management Inc. (“CAM”); CIBC Trust Corporation; and CIBC Wood Gundy, a division of CIBC World Markets Inc. (“WMI”). CIBC Private Banking provides solutions from CIBC Investor Services Inc. (“ISI”), CAM and credit products. CIBC Private Wealth services are available to qualified individuals. Insurance services are only available through CIBC Wood Gundy Financial Services Inc. In Quebec, insurance services are only available through CIBC Wood Gundy Financial Services (Quebec) Inc.


CIBC Private Wealth services are available to qualified individuals. The CIBC logo and “CIBC Private Wealth” are trademarks of CIBC, used under license.