A will is one document. It names an executor, it says who gets what, and it speaks only to the assets that actually pass through your estate. That last part is where people get caught. A large share of what you own may never touch your will at all.
Registered accounts with a named beneficiary, an RRSP, a RRIF, a TFSA, a segregated fund, pay out directly to the person named on the form. So does most life insurance. Anything held in joint tenancy with right of survivorship goes to the surviving owner the moment you die. None of it waits for probate, and none of it reads your will. If the will says one thing and the beneficiary form says another, the form wins.
I see the same gaps over and over. A beneficiary designation that still names a former spouse. An adult child added to a bank account "to help with the bills" who now legally owns it. A cabin in joint names with one sibling and not the others. A small company with no agreement about what happens to the shares. None of these are problems with the will. The will can be perfect and the estate can still go sideways.
- Pull every beneficiary designation you have: RRSP, RRIF, TFSA, pension, life insurance, segregated funds. Read who is actually named.
- List anything held in joint names, and be honest about whether that was a deliberate decision or just convenient at the time.
- Confirm the person named as your executor knows they are named, and is willing to do it.
- Check that your power of attorney for property and your health care directive are current. They matter while you are alive, not only after.
- If you own a business, find out whether there is a written agreement covering your shares.
- Write down where the original signed documents physically live.
The point of the audit is not to worry you. It is to line the will up with everything that sits outside it, so the two are telling the same story. Most of the fixes are small once you can see them. The damage comes from never looking.
Get the whole picture in order, in one sitting.
If lining all of this up on your own feels like a lot, that is what the workshop is for. Your Next Step is a half-day, in-person session where we work through your estate and planning workbook together, from beneficiary designations to ownership to the documents your family will one day need.
You leave with a written set of next steps and a follow-up call with me on the calendar. $1,500 per family or business.
See the workshop →If you are not sure where your own plan stands, that is a normal place to start. We can walk through it together and sort out what, if anything, needs to change.
Want to talk it through?
If any of this raises a question about your own situation, the next step is a short conversation. No charge, no pressure. Just pick a time that works.