No Funeral Plans?

Funeral decisions made in a panic are ripe ground for family disagreements and emotional overspending. Since Executors are responsible for all final decisions, this situation is guaranteed to cause stress. Prevent your Executor from getting caught in the crossfire by providing the calm, decisive guidance of a Legacy Preplan. By making your funeral plans in advance, all decisions have been taken care of. In a highly-charged emotional climate, this is one of the most thoughtful gifts you can give your Executor and your family, a legacy of caring that will keep on giving long after you’re gone.

Death While Travelling?

Dying far away from home, especially in a foreign country, is an Executor’s nightmare. This is much more complicated than a sudden death. It is a crisis that demands urgent response to very difficult and overlapping tasks. When placed on the shoulders of an Executor, it is stress overload. Travel arrangements must be made immediately for Executor to reach the place of death. A funeral home must be found in a foreign land. An embassy must be contacted. Finding an interpreter might be necessary. Someone has to pay the airline and other bills; and the list goes on. Can you imagine the comfort you would give your Executor and family if all they had to do was make one phone call? Unlike other travel plans, your Legacy Travel Protection does more than just pay the bills afterwards. From the moment we receive the phone call to report your death, your Legacy Plan takes over. It pays the bills upfront, and it handles every step along the way to bring your body back home, and safe with your family. By taking out this plan, you may not be remembered for leaving something grand and impressive behind. Your legacy of caring will lie in having prevented a frightening and traumatic incident.

Stolen Identity?

This feature is of benefit to you while you are living, rather than your Executor. If your identity is stolen while you’re alive, your Legacy Plan will work with provincial and federal governments, local police forces and the RCMP, banks, credit unions, and credit card companies to restore your identity. If this has happened to anyone you know, you are already aware of the massive problems created by identity theft. Having a Legacy Plan will provide true peace of mind that your most valuable possession – your identity – is staunchly defended.

Old Will or No Will?

To have an outdated Will, or to have no Will at all, is definitely the biggest headache we could inadvertently give to our family and Executor. In general, it takes about eighteen months to settle the average Canadian estate, but without the benefit of this important legal document, it takes much longer. As well as the extra time imposed on impatient families, court costs are higher, and stress rises at every level. No matter how nice we are, when we die, we become somebody’s legal responsibility. If there’s no Will, there is no Executor, and if there’s no Executor, there’s nobody with legal power to take charge. In this situation, families make application to the courts to decide who will administrate your affairs. It may be an understatement to say that family conflicts are guaranteed. Many people shy away from making a Will because of the cost. The good news is that there’s no reason to put this off any longer. For under $50, you can purchase a Will through our Legacy Plan partners, and pay one-tenth the fee of most lawyers.

Paperwork?

After your death, your Executor must spend countless hours applying for benefits, cancelling pensions, and making notifications of death. Since we’re more at risk for identity theft when we’re dead than when we’re alive, security measures are tight at every corner. In the olden days, a few phone calls and letters did the job. In today’s world, an Executor is held hostage to an endless maze of waiting on hold in an effort to notify/redeem/close insurances, investments, property deeds, subscriptions, credit cards, bank cards, accounts, memberships, internet identities, government agencies, health cards, post office, charities, passports, social insurance numbers, and of course the list goes on.

Sound intimidating? With your Legacy Plan, an Executor Assistance Package whittles down this daunting chore to a manageable and controllable size, eliminating confusion, frustration, and fear of making mistakes. In this package, your forms have already been filled in: all you have to do is add your John or Janet Henry. Ten days after your death, this prepared package arrives at your Executor’s doorstep with guidance and instructions for completion. In fact, your Executor gets assistance for one full year. If an Executor is an elderly spouse, this Legacy package will help them feel more in control when their lives feel upside down. If your Executor is an adult child with a very busy life, you are relieving them of a responsibility that requires incredible attention to detail. When you remove intimidation from the paperwork, your legacy of caring will be nothing short of profound appreciation.

Emergency Fund

Imagine this: Your Executor wants to pay some bills incurred in finalizing your estate, but when he goes down to the bank to withdraw funds, he is told “This Account Is Frozen!” Bah! It’s an exasperating situation, and one that is becoming increasingly common, even with joint bank accounts. Banks used to have trained staff in every branch to help grieving families with banking and estate affairs. Because of increasing risks of litigation, banks will not hesitate to close accounts, bundle up your information, and send it to their central estate department. This leaves Executors with a choice of paying the bills from their own pocket, or taking out a line of credit from the bank and paying the accompanying high interest. With your Legacy Plan, this frustrating problem is solved. Unlike a traditional joint account, the cash you put into your Emergency Fund will cover your estate’s immediate expenses, cannot be frozen by the bank, and your funds bypass probate. This is a supremely sensible move in times when fear seems to be gaining ground. Your Executor will be free from resentment, and your lasting legacy will be one of respect.

Little Black Box

If you’ve never been good at organization, don’t despair! The Legacy Plan has come to your rescue with four concise and helpful documents, all stored on one simple flash drive. We call it The Little Black Box.  Sometimes we put an impressive amount of effort into getting our affairs in shipshape order, but if our papers are scattered around the house, in the attic, on shelves, or in Tupperware containers in the freezer, our Executor inherits a frustrating and time-consuming treasure hunt. Getting our affairs in order also means leaving our affairs in order. With the Little Black Box, documents are immediately accessible, and information is clear and easy to understand.

These four documents are:

1. Who, What, and Where?

This valuable package contains all the correct forms needed by your Executor to administer and finalize your estate in a professional manner. In one safe location, this package includes forms for itemizing Assets and Liabilities, and lists for Executor Expenses, etc.  Save your Executor the trouble of searching for, or creating from scratch, all the necessary forms. The use of this package also prevents the oversight of important steps and applications.  Grease the wheels of your Executor’s tedious job. Don’t leave them with a four-drawer filing cabinet full of old warrantees and bank statements to pull apart. Your legacy of caring is to leave your Executor feeling like an expert.

2. The How-To Manual

This is the ultimate guidebook for your Executor. Written in plain language, 45 steps are listed in chronological order to pilot your Executor through the legal requirements of estate settlement.

3. Life’s Journey Template

Your life story may be the most valuable gift you can give your family, but most of us never get around to it. This unique Legacy template will help you create a treasured keepsake as part of your legacy. When our children and grandchildren are growing up, they don’t take much interest in our stories, but when they are older and have families of their own, they become hungry for the simplest stories about their roots.

How often have we heard, or said, “Why didn’t I ask Granny more questions?” Once we’re dead and time has marched along, our families yearn for missed or forgotten stories. There is no other way to feel intimately connected to someone we’ve lost than through stories. Your legacy of caring will give your loved ones a stronger connection to their roots, and deeper understanding of themselves.

4. Emergency Contact Information

This document includes all the vital information needed by your family and Executor in times of illness, crisis, or death. Location of the Will; name of Executor; names of Power of Attorney and Health Representative; a chosen funeral home with phone number; location of funeral plans; a number to call if you die while travelling, etc. all in one easy-to-access document sent to your executor. This document puts fundamental information at the fingertips of your family when people can’t think straight. Your legacy of caring will be felt through the absence of panic.