Estate planning protects what you leave behind: reducing probate and tax at death, coordinating wills and beneficiaries, and making the transfer smooth. Just received an inheritance? See our inheritance planning service.
Decision-led estate planning that reduces probate and tax at death and gets your documents working together
Coordinate your will and powers of attorney with your lawyer so the legal documents and your financial plan tell the same story.
Identify which assets can pass outside your will to lower the estate administration tax, weighing the control trade-offs of each route.
Review every registered account and insurance designation so none contradicts your will or names a stale or deceased beneficiary.
Decide whether a trust is worth its cost for your situation, from minor children to a disabled beneficiary to a multi-generation cottage.
Model the deemed disposition so you know which assets trigger capital gains or registered-account tax, and how the bill gets funded.
Structure gifts to the causes you care about in the most tax-efficient way, using your estate to offset tax while leaving the legacy you want.
Most of the money is won or lost in three places. Here's where to focus first.
In Ontario, the estate administration tax applies to assets that flow through your will, so the first decision is what to keep out of it:
The deemed disposition can create a tax bill before any asset is sold. The decision is how to cover it without forcing a fire sale:
A clean plan falls apart when the will and the beneficiary forms say different things. The decision is making them consistent:
Common questions about estate planning and wealth transfer in Ontario
Estate planning is about the wealth you leave behind: structuring your will, beneficiaries, and assets so more passes to the people you choose and less goes to probate and tax. Inheritance planning is the other side of the same event, for someone who just received money or property. If you just received an inheritance, see our inheritance financial planning service at /services/inheritance-financial-planning.
Ontario charges an estate administration tax on the value of assets that pass through your will. The common levers are assets that bypass the will entirely: registered accounts and insurance with named beneficiaries, jointly held property where appropriate, and in some cases trusts or a secondary will for private-company shares. Each has trade-offs around control and family fairness, so the structure should be reviewed against your full estate before you commit.
Most estates don't. A trust earns its keep in specific situations: providing for a beneficiary who can't manage money or has a disability, controlling when and how minor children receive assets, holding a cottage across generations, or keeping certain assets out of probate. A trust adds cost and ongoing administration, so the question is whether the control or protection it buys is worth that. We help you decide before you pay a lawyer to draft one.
Beneficiary designations on RRSPs, RRIFs, TFSAs, pensions, and insurance pass outside your will and override it. The common failures are a designation that contradicts the will, a stale ex-spouse or deceased person still named, or no contingent beneficiary. We review every designation against the will so the two documents tell the same story and nothing lands in the wrong hands or triggers avoidable tax.
Canada has no inheritance tax, but at death you're generally treated as having disposed of your assets at fair market value, the deemed disposition. That can trigger capital gains tax on investments and second properties, and registered accounts like an RRSP or RRIF can be fully taxable on the final return unless they roll to a spouse. Planning focuses on which assets trigger tax, the order they're handled, and how to fund the bill so heirs aren't forced to sell.
The lawyer drafts the will, powers of attorney, and any trust. The advisor makes sure the financial picture behind those documents actually works: that beneficiary designations match the will, that the tax at death is modelled and funded, and that the structure does what you intend. We coordinate with your lawyer rather than replace them, so the legal documents and the money line up.
Deemed disposition, probate fees, and protecting family wealth.
Read article →Seven legal strategies to cut the 1.5% probate bill.
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Read article →Wills, POAs, beneficiary reviews, and probate-reduction steps.
Read article →A first-90-days plan for tax, investing, and estate setup.
Read article →See where your estate plan leaks probate and tax at death, and what to fix first. The assessment covers probate reduction, beneficiary alignment, and how the tax at death gets funded.