Trust Law

A Family Trust or Alter Ego Trust or Joint Spousal Trust may be an ideal estate planning document for your circumstances.

Trusts are used for estate planning to minimize taxes, maintain privacy and provide protection of assets and may assist in providing security for your loved ones.

There are a few things you will need to decide upon before you establish a trust. First, you need to be clear on the purpose of the trust and who you want to benefit. Secondly, you must be confident that the assets you place in a trust, if it is an Irrevocable Family Trust, are not needed by yourself during your lifetime.

Because there are very specific rules under the Canadian Income Tax Act that apply to Trusts, you must be careful to ensure that you have the proper professional advice in setting up a Trust. In particular, you must avoid the traps that may cause income tax to be unexpectedly payable when you are using a trust to minimize tax liability on your death or at the time of transfer of assets to your loved ones.

To help you establish your Trust, we need to know the purpose of the Trust as well as who you would like to benefit and who will act as trustees. Trustees are people who you have confidence in to carry out your wishes and to fulfil their obligations as prudent managers of the Trust Property.

The establishment of a Trust can be an ideal solution to certain estate planning problems but professional advice must be sought and it must be determined that this is the right solution for you. We would be pleased to help.

Scott R. Hawryliw, and Andrew K. Zyp can help you with both simple and complex trusts including Family Trusts, Henson Trusts, Joint Spousal Trusts and Alter Ego Trusts.