“Nothing is certain but death and taxes,” American inventor Ben Franklin is attributed to saying. While you can’t control either of these two inevitable events, you can make a will to ensure your financial affairs are managed according to your wishes once you’re no longer able to, due to incapacity or death

Without a valid will, you are considered to have died intestate. When that happens, in Canada the province decides how your assets are distributed, without regard to your wishes. Following the laws of intestacy, the province typically distributes the first $50,000 of value to a surviving spouse, then divides the rest between the spouse and children. If you don’t have a surviving spouse or children, your parents are next in line to receive your assets, followed by any brothers and sisters.

Dying without a will also leads to delays and extra expenses. The court appoints a bonded administrator to serve as an executor of the estate. In addition, any assets distributed to children under 19 must be passed along to a bonded guardian or to the Public Trustee. The process of appointing these administrators is both expensive and time-consuming.

There are three main types of wills in Canada:

Last Will
To ensure your affairs are handled the way you want them to be, you need a will. The purpose of a last will is to give instructions to a person you choose as an executor on how you want your assets distributed after your death.

Power Of Attorney
The power of attorney gives the person of your choice the power to manage your financial affairs if you become incapable of managing them yourself, It gives this person, the power to handle such day-to-day tasks as: paying bills, filing tax returns, opening mail, banking, talking with accountants and lawyers, voting on your behalf etc.

Without a power of attorney, a spouse has no legal authority to do any of these tasks on your behalf if you become disabled. This is one of the reasons why this estate-planning step is so crucial.

Living Will
A living will gives healthcare/mental power of attorney to a person of your choice. It gives this person the power to implement the medical treatment you wish to receive if you become unable to communicate your wishes. The document tells doctors, family members and the courts your wishes for life-support and medical procedures, if you were to become brain dead, unconscious, terminally ill, or otherwise unable to communicate your wishes.