Multigenerational
 Wealth Management

• Solution

Solutions for Your Needs

Multigenerational Wealth Management
Margaret*, 70, has just inherited a large sum from her mother's estate and has also been named executor. She has never acted as an executor before and has little knowledge of what's involved – a problem exacerbated by the fact that her mother rarely spoke about her assets or estate wishes with her family.

Dealing with funeral arrangements and family, and going through her mother's possessions has left Margaret little time to think about her own finances and the impact of any inheritance, and she has yet to deal with any of the estate issues.

In the role of executor, Margaret is only now discovering that her mother named charitable gifts in her will, hadn't filed an income tax return for years, had a substantial number of undated stock certificates in her closet, had an investment account with a current market value of $47,000, and a condominium worth approximately $180,000.

Faced with the monumental task of managing her mother's estate, Margaret has decided that she would like to simplify the process for her three children when she dies, and is considering giving some of her recent inheritance to them or her three grandchildren. Margaret doesn't feel she needs the money herself, and would like to distribute some assets to her children now when they need it the most. In addition to her $289,000 home and the cottage she's owned since 1960 – now worth $645,000 – Margaret has a $322,000 RRIF, an investment account worth $134,000, and $50,000 in a chequing account. She is considering including her children in the ownership of the cottage and her home in order to avoid probate and to ease the transfer upon her death. She has also named all three as beneficiaries on her RRIF. As well, Margaret wants to be charitable and is considering ways to do this without affecting her own children's inheritances.

Addressing the Situation
You, like Margaret, may face investment and estate issues that involve several generations of family members. Let's take a look at solutions that can help clarify the situation.

* Fictional characters. Any similarities between them and actual clients of BMO Nesbitt Burns Inc. are accidental.