Wills & Estate Planning

Legal Information Resources

• Estates (Manitoba) - Covers financial support for dependents and assets.
• Inheritance & Benefits (Manitoba) - Discusses what happens if there is no will in place, taxes, and pension benefits.
• Nidus - Provides resources on personal planning (planning for incapacity or end-of-life).
• Rights on Death (Manitoba) - Discusses rights of children, surviving common-law or spouses, property rights, and what happens after fatal accidents.
• Wills (Manitoba) - Discusses executors, guardians, will validity, and how to change or revoke a will.
• Wills & Estates (The Law Society of Manitoba) - Will drafting, Estate Planning, Delegation of authority, Probate and Litigation.

Hospice or Palliative Care

• Nidus Personal Planning and Resource Centre Registry - Personal planning is about planning for incapacity, end-of-life and other support needs. Personal planning formalizes informal help provided by your friends and family and gives them or others the legal authority necessary to help you.
• Palliative Care (Manitoba) - Links to regional resources.
• Canadian Virtual Hospice - Information and support on palliative and end-of-life care, loss and grief.

What to do

• After a Death (Canada) - outlines what to do when someone dies, at the federal level, such as: canceling a passport, notifying the CRA, contacting credit bureaus to avoid fraud, and claiming life insurance.
• Dealing with Death (Manitoba) - What to do first, who to notify.

Consider a Digital Will

To manage your digital estate, consider a Digital Will which outlines what a person would like to happen to their digital assets after they die. It can be a part of your overall will. A digital estate is made up of digital assets and digital accounts.

• Digital asset = an individual electronic file. This includes: a photograph taken with your smartphone, an email, a Word document.
• Digital account = an online account such as an email account, Facebook account, online banking account, etc.

Why is this important?

• Passing on sentimental digital items (photos, emails)
• Passing on digital items of monetary value (music accounts, PayPal, eBay)
• Subscriptions can continue to charge the estate
• Helping people manage your overall estate (access to online banking)
• Privacy!

What happens if you don't deal with your digital estate?

• It can be nearly impossible for anyone to access your accounts/assets.
• The account will most likely: stay online; provide the ability for others to continue to interact; could potentially be at risk for identity theft

Consider what you want:

• Accounts shut down immediately
• Accounts up temporarily so that others can post condolences?
• Assets passed on to a friend or family member

Organize your digital assets now so that you can decide what you want to pass on:

• Do not put any passwords in your will itself.
• Digital accounts of a business may be an asset of the corporation. Check with a legal professional.
• Do you really want to pass on every email? Or a selection of meaningful ones?

How to manage:

• Make a list of all digital assets and accounts - Easiest to use a password manager
• Create a digital estate plan
• Designate a digital estate manager
• Include the instructions in your will
• Keep your will up to date (check it over once a year)