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Choosing someone to look after your children when you are gone is obviously a tough decision. Appointing a Guardian in your Will can be one of the toughest decisions to make, and it is not as simple as just choosing mom, dad or a family member to be Guardian of your children. There are many aspects to consider when it comes to appointing a Guardian.  Here are some important issues to consider about selecting a Guardian:

• Will your spouse be onboard with your choice for Guardian? What happens if you and your spouse sit down to do a Last Will and Testament only to discover that you each want to choose your own set of parents to be Guardians for your children?
• Will your Guardian outlive you? Many people may choose their own parents as Guardians for their children, but you also have to consider the fact that your own parents may not outlive you. If that is the case, who is really the ideal person to look after your children?
• If mom and dad are not the best choices as suitable Guardians, you may want to look at family members, such as brothers or sisters to look after your children. Is that something your spouse would want?
• If you were to choose a relative to look after your children, would your spouse find that person a suitable candidate?
• Consider what would happen if you picked one person to be Guardian over another, would that offend someone else? Even though you might offend someone, at the end of the day you have to do what is right and choose the person who would be best suited to look after your kids.
• Does your choice of Guardian have the same religious, cultural and even dietary values as you? Does your Guardian get along well with your children?

These are the biggest questions to consider. It is always best to sit down and have a talk with your spouse before anything is written up or documented in a Will. When you do decide to draft your Last Will and Testament, consider the fact that FormalWill has a system where you can appoint a Guardian and alternate Guardians for your children in your Will. That way you can be assured that there is always someone there to look after your children in the event  that one of your selections for a Guardian are unable to.

Intestacy is dying without a Last Will and Testament. Have you considered what would happen if you died intestate? What would happen to your estate?

Intestacy usually operates as follows (this varies by province or territory):

• Everything passes on to the spouse and/or children
• If the deceased had no children, everything passes on to the parents
• In the event the parents have passed away, everything passes on to the siblings of the deceased
• In the event no one is left, the government may acquire the remaining assets and estate

You can see where this issue grows complex especially if you have a common-in-law spouse, step parents, siblings and so on. How will a person’s estate and assets be divided up by the courts if you do not have a Will? Even if you believe that your estate and assets are too small to be worth something, the chances are that you at least own some property such as a house, car or have some money in the bank.

Putting a Will in place ensures that your assets and estate go to the people you would prefer.  With a Will you can also make charitable donations and leave things to close friends.  Moreover, what about the pressing issue of a Guardian? Who will raise and look after your children if you are not there?  Importantly, a Will allows you to name the precise people you would trust with being Guardians for your children.

If you still assume everything is going to be fine after you die intestate, the courts still have to step in and administer where all of your stuff goes. That costs money, which will come out of what is left of your estate.   Dealing with an estate where there is no Will is more expensive in terms of legal costs, more complicated, and time-consuming.  

Don’t let your Estate get caught up in expensive, complicated, and lengthy court hearings by not completing your Last Will and Testament.   

If you have a Last Will and Testament (or are thinking about drafting one), then you may be wondering when and how you would go about updating it. People generally think about getting a Will during the biggest changes of their lives. Typically, one would assume that the very first Last Will and Testament a person creates is going to need updates down the road as their life changes. People marry, divorce, have multiple children, etc. and all of those type of changes in a person’s life need to be reflected in a Last Will and Testament. How does one update their Will when necessary?

There are two options to update your Will. One way is to create an entirely brand new Last Will and Testament. The second option is to create a Codicil (an amendment) to your Last Will and Testament. A Codicil would have to be dated, signed and attached to the Will so your Executor knows when the Codicil was created. A Codicil would have to fit seamlessly with the other sections of your Will and avoid any conflicting language. Although some may view a Codicil to be satisfactory for small changes (i.e. changing the amount of money you want to give to a specific person or to a charity), it is generally much better to create a new Last Will and Testament so there is absolutely no confusion or conflict between a Will and a Codicil. This is particularly true if you wish to make multiple changes to your Will.

The good news is that through the use of online Will software, you can create a new Will with the changes you want to it without having to pay for a brand-new Will through a lawyer. Bottom line: Avoid confusion by editing your Will through Will software.