Estate planning is vital to help protect your assets, your beneficiaries, and future generations in your family. However, it can be challenging for individuals and their families to navigate the legal and regulatory issues surrounding estate planning, trusts, and wills. Our purpose is to help manage that complexity alongside you.

Whether you're creating a will or setting up a trust, our team of legal and tax professionals will work with you to develop plans and strategies based on your unique needs. We understand that discussions about estates, trusts, and wills can be sensitive and complex. We help by building strong, lasting relationships with you and your family, and by serving as a trusted advisor as you move through life's stages and key events.

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How we can help

Trusts and wills

Trusts and wills are key elements in many estate planning strategies in Canada. Having a will is vital to ensure the distribution of your assets in accordance with your wishes. We can prepare your will and any related trusts as part of your existing estate plan or in the estate plan we develop with you.

Complex situations

We help manage a wide range of complex issues including: planning for disabled beneficiaries; cross-border considerations for non-resident beneficiaries/heirs, including setting up a cross-border trust; international assets; and intricate family dynamics.

Estate freezes and family trusts

An estate freeze and family trust are often used to defer tax and address succession of a family business. We can help to ensure your plan is properly structured so it complements your future goals and objectives while helping to protect your estate and assets.

Incapacity planning

We can help with planning to ensure that your financial matters, health and personal care decisions are in the hands of someone you trust.

Income taxes and probate fees

Estate planning requires effective tax advice. We will design your plan to help achieve tax minimization, probate fee efficiency, and flexibility to mitigate double tax on private company shares.

Philanthropy

It is important to support causes that align with your values, interests and goals. As part of your estate planning, we help to ensure that your philanthropic objectives are carefully planned and met.

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Frequently asked questions (FAQs)

KPMG Family Office provides tailored services for your estate planning. Our services include assisting with:

Trusts and wills
Estate freezes and trusts
Income taxes and probate fees
Philanthropy

In addition to legal advice, we provide tax advice when it comes to your estate planning.

To protect your business and the financial security of your family, it's important to develop an estate plan with the future of your business in mind. Considerations include using estate planning strategies to reduce estate taxes and planning for other tax efficiencies to help maximize the value of your estate. For example, a multiple-will strategy may help reduce probate fees, depending on your province. Another consideration in estate planning for business owners is having a shareholder's agreement to address business transition issues such as share ownership and the transfer or sale of shares.

Having a family meeting is one of the best ways to reduce conflict and ensure you're making the right decisions about your estate plan. A family meeting gives you the chance to have clear and open communication with your beneficiaries so they can understand your wishes. An advisor can help create an agenda, set the tone of the meeting, communicate its purpose, and help you achieve your goals for the meeting.

Keep in mind that every individual and family is unique. While everyone should have a will, not everyone needs a trust. The best way to approach estate planning is to plan early and plan often. Your trusted Family Office advisor will help create an estate plan that is unique and personal to you, and revisit your plan as circumstances in your life or business change.