Estate Planning

Step 1 of 9

Estate Planning Questionnaire

Introduction/General Information

Thank you for your interest in having us complete your estate plan. This form will take about 20-30 minutes to complete. If you need a break or do not have some of the information handy, your answers may be saved at any time by clicking the link at the "save and continue later" link at the bottom of each page. All of these questions are intended to help build your estate plan through:
- Getting you thinking about some of the issues we will review. This saves time in our subsequent meeting and helps reduce your fees.
- Helping to give you a complete picture of your estate. This can show you if have the resources to carry out your estate plan.
- Helping your personal representatives (ie: executors) to locate your property. Personal Representatives can only administer the property they can find.
- Enabling us to suggest helpful alternatives to your proposed estate plan and to ensure that your will includes sufficient powers for your Personal Representatives to properly administer your estate.
- Identifying who should make financial and health decisions on your behalf and the limits that you will place on these abilities in the event that you are incapable of making these decisions.
Please complete all applicable sections of the Estate Planner in as much detail as possible. There will be 3 sections to fill out. Each deals with a separate document associated with your estate plan (Will, Personal Directive and Power of Attorney). When you have completed the planner, an email is sent to our office and either a lawyer or an assistant will follow up with you shortly after to schedule an appointment to discuss your answers. If you are unable to finish the Estate Planner prior to our scheduled appointment, please come to the meeting anyway and we will finish it then.

If you are unsure of an answer at this time you can skip those questions.

Finally, to alleviate any concerns that you might have, please be aware that the information collected in this Estate Planner is in accordance with the Alberta Personal Information Protection Act and the information collected will be used solely for the purposes of estate planning and will only be passed onto a relevant third party if express written consent is obtained from you.

We look forward to meeting with you,

The Estate Planning Team at Duncan Craig LLP
1. Which Estates lawyer are you working with?*
Do you now have a will?*
- Yes
- No
Name
First Last
Email
Phone
Address
Street Address Address Line 2 City State / Province / Region ZIP / Postal Code Country
Are you married or in an Adult Interdependent Relationship? see note below*
- Yes
- No
The Adult Interdependent Relationships Act provides for legal recognition of the relationship between two people who are not married. In order for the relationship to be recognized by the law, the relationship must have certain characteristics that might include a written agreement, living together or having a child. We will refer to partners through marriage or interdependent relationships as "spouse".
Spouse Information
Spouse Full First Name
Spouse Full Last Name
Other names you are known by or prior last names
Other names you are known by or prior last names (You)
Other names you are known by or prior last names (Spouse)
Date of Birth
Date of Birth (You)*
Date of Birth (Spouse)
Place of Birth
Place of Birth (You)*
Place of Birth (Spouse)
Occupation
Occupation (You)
Occupation (Spouse)
Employer
Employer (You)
Employer (Spouse)
Citizenship (now or prior)
Citizenship (now or prior) (You)*
Citizenship (now or prior) (Spouse)
Any connection to the US (parents, employment)
Any connection to the US (parents, employment) (You)
Any connection to the US (parents, employment) (Spouse)
Have either of you been previously married?
You*
- Yes
- No
Spouse
- Yes
- No

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Do you have any children and/or stepchildren?*
Child Information
Click the + symbol to add additional children
Child Information
Fullname From current marriage? (Y/N) Age Married (Y/N) Spouse Name
Do you have any grandchildren or step grandchildren?*
- Yes
- No
Grandchild Information
Fullname Parent's Name Location Birth Date (dd/mm/yy) Married (Y/N)
Are any of your children or grandchildren mentally or physically disabled?*
- Yes
- No
Please describe who and how
If you have minor children, please identify Guardian(s) for them
Add a second guardian (if desired) by clicking the + symbol
Fullname Relationship City/Town
Have all Guardians been asked and are they willing to Act?
- Yes
- No
Do the Guardians have enough room in the house and the financial means to add your children?
- Yes
- No

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Funeral arrangements
Have you already made funeral arrangements?
Describe
Do you wish to have your will speak to your desired funeral arrangements?
Describe
example: I wish for my body to be cremated and my remains scattered or stored

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Personal Representatives
Personal Representative means an executor and trustee in your will. In most instances, you will likely want to list your spouse as the primary personal representative. If your spouse is the sole beneficiary of your estate, it is likely preferable to name him/her as the primary personal representative. Generally one primary and one alternate personal is sufficient, but this depends on your circumstances. For tax reasons, it is not advisable to choose a personal representative who resides outside of Canada. At least one executor should be a resident of Alberta, particularly where beneficiaries are under age 18. It is highly advisable to secure agreement from your representative(s) before naming them as such in your will.
Would you like your Personal Representative to be your spouse?
- Yes
- No
Primary Personal Representative Information
Full name City/Province Approximate Age Occupation Relationship
Alternate Personal Representative Information
Full name City/Province Approximate Age Occupation Relationship

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Instructions for Will
The below questions deal with the distribution of your estate. We will discuss this in more detail in our meeting.
If your spouse predeceases you, or you do not have a spouse, your estate should be distributed:
- Equally to all children
- All to children, but different percentages
- As gifts to Charity
Family Demise
Although extremely unlikely, how is your estate to be divided if you and your spouse (or the person(s) you have left your estate to) and all your children and grandchildren are killed in a common accident or die before reaching their age of entitlement?
- ½ to my parents and ½ to spouse's parents
- ½ to my brothers and sisters and ½ to my spouse's (or partner’s) brothers and sisters who are then alive in equal shares
- to my nephews and nieces and my spouse's (or partner’s) nephews and nieces in equal shares
- Charity
Comments

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Enduring Power of Attorney

Definitions
“Donor" means the person who signs the enduring power of attorney. You are the donor. "Attorney" means a person who is empowered to act on behalf of the donor under an enduring power of Attorney. This could be a spouse or adult interdependent partner, a child, another person or a trust company. "Enduring Power of Attorney" means a power of attorney which will only begin take effect and continue to take effect on the mental incapacity of the donor.

Why Make a Power of Attorney Document

An enduring power of attorney is a legal document that lets you choose someone to make financial decisions for you if you can no longer make them. This person is called your attorney. Although this word is often used to describe a lawyer, it has a different meaning here.

Depending on how your enduring power of attorney is written, there are two options:

a. Your attorney starts making decisions immediately. You and your attorney have control over the money. You can both write cheques, sign documents, etc. If, in the future, you cannot make decisions because you are ill or injured, your attorney takes over and they make the decisions.

or

b. Your attorney doesn’t make financial decisions for you until, sometime in the future, you cannot make decisions because you become mentally incapacitated because you are ill or injured. This is sometimes called a springing power of attorney because it springs into effect when you become incapable. If you get better, you can take back the power to make your own decisions.
Do you currently have a power of attorney document?
- Yes
- No
Attorney Selection
Would you like your Primary Attorney to be your spouse?
- Yes
- No
You will need to chose a primary and at least one alternate attorney. If you would like to name a different primary or alternate from that selected as your personal representative, please select "I would like to make a new selection" and you will be asked to enter the details of your agents.
- Make this the same as my Personal Representative selection
- I would like to make new selection
Other Attorney Information
Primary
Full name City/Province Approximate Age Occupation Relationship
Alternate
Full name City/Province Age Occupation Relationship

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Personal Directive

Why Make a Personal Directive?
1. To gain control over their future health care.
2. To relieve their loved ones from the burden of making difficult decisions for them.
3. To appoint someone to act as their agent to fulfill the maker's wishes in making health care decisions.
Definitions

“Maker” means a person who signs a personal directive.
“Agent” means the person appointed to make personal decisions and communicate those decisions on your behalf.
Do you currently have a Personal Directive document?
- Yes
- No
Would you like your Primary Agent to be your spouse?
- Yes
- No
Agent
- Same as Personal Representative
- Same as Attorney (if different than Personal Representative)
- I would like to make a new selection
Primary
Full name City/Province Approximate Age Occupation Relationship
Alternate
Full name City/Province Approximate Age Occupation Relationship

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Personal Directive

You are almost finished; this is the last section to complete.
If you want your agents to make decisions as a group, how do you want disagreements resolved?
- By consensus, but if not attainable then follow directions of the majority of the agents.
- Follow directions of specific agent
Directions
There are sometimes differences of opinion as to the health decisions to be made. If you would like to rely on one agent as the primary decision member, you can designate them as such.
Personal Beliefs or Values

The second part of the Personal Directive allows you to express, in your own words, your wishes about health care decisions. It is not usually possible to foresee in advance all of the types of medical decisions which may have to be made for you.

The direction for agents that we are most frequently asked to include in a Personal Directive is as follows:

I do not wish my life to be prolonged by artificial means when I am in a coma or persistent vegetative state and, in the opinion of my physician and other consultants, have no known hope of regaining awareness and higher mental functions, no matter what is done.

I wish to be kept comfortable and free from pain. This means that I may be given pain medication even though it may dull consciousness and indirectly shorten my life.

If, in the opinion of my Agent, this directive does not give clear instructions that are relevant to the health care decision to be made on my behalf, my Agent must make the decision based upon my Agent's knowledge of my wishes, beliefs and values.
Do you wish to have these clauses in your personal directive?
- Yes
- No
Please provide any additional or alternative directions that you might have.
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Fullname	From current marriage? (Y/N)	Age	Married (Y/N)	Spouse Name

Fullname	Parent's Name	Location	Birth Date (dd/mm/yy)	Married (Y/N)

Fullname	Relationship	City/Town

Type (house, land, cottage)	Address/Description	Name(s) on title

Estate Planning

Step 1 of 9

Estate Planning Questionnaire