September 18, 2012

Estate Planning

Category: Tax
  • Overview
    1. Planning process
    2. Goals
    3. Legislative constraints
    4. 2012 tax rates
    5. Probate fees
    6. Land transfer fees
  • Will Planning
    1. Avoiding probate taxes
    2. Avoiding or deferring capital gains taxes
    3. US estate tax matters
    4. Accessing privacy
    5. Multiple wills
    6. Beneficiary designations
    7. Spousal trusts
    8. Asset protection trusts
    9. Loss carryback vs. “pipeline” and recent CRA comments regarding subsection 84(2)
    10. Standard or “simple” wills rethought
    11. New Wills and Succession Act
  • Enduring Powers of Attorney
    1. Defined
    2. Advantages
    3. Disadvantages
    4. Different types
    5. Conflict of laws
    6. Revocation
    7. Liability
    8. Landscape elsewhere in Canada
  • Living Wills / Personal Directives
    1. Defined
    2. Advantages
    3. Disadvantages
    4. Health care decisions
    5. Landscape elsewhere in Canada
  • Trusts
    1. Discretionary
    2. Non-Discretionary
    3. Alter Ego and Joint Partner Trusts
    4. “Self Benefit” Trusts
    5. Asset Protection Trusts
    6. Wealth Accumulation Trusts
  • Succession Planning
    1. Estate freeze
      1. Basic
      2. Variations and alternatives
    2. Valuing voting vs. non-voting shares
    3. Asset protection
    4. Business division equalization
    5. Creating equalization assets out of retained earnings
    6. Safe income freeze buyouts
    7. Shareholder agreements
    8. Spinouts and butterflies
    9. Capital gains exemption and crystallization
    10. Basic uses of life insurance
  • Freeze Alterations
    1. Melts
    2. Thaws
    3. Refreezes
    4. Reverse freezes
    5. Downstream freezes
    6. Variations of trusts
    7. Trust distributions
  • Income Splitting
    1. Corporate attribution rules
    2. Exceptions to corporate attribution rules
    3. Exemption for estate freezes
    4. Startup situations
    5. Kiddie tax
    6. Personal attribution rules
    7. Exceptions to personal attribution rules
    8. Tax traps
    9. Planning opportunities
    10. GAAR and income splitting
  • Charitable Giving
    1. General rules
    2. Inter vivos
    3. Will
    4. After tax cost of giving cash
    5. After tax cost of giving property
  • GST Matters

    • See Seminar Details for more information.