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In previous blog posts, we outlined the importance of Wills and Power of Attorneys.

• Key Factors to Consider When Making a Will
• Have you given thought as to who would make significant decisions on your behalf if something unfortunate would happen to you?

If you currently have a Will and Power of Attorneys in place, you are on the right track and have already taken a huge step towards planning for your future and that of your estate. However, it is merely not enough to have these documents prepared once and not give them another lookover every once in a while, to see if any amendments or updates should be considered to same.

There may have been circumstances in your life that can result in some provisions of your Will and/or Power of Attorneys no longer being valid or if they are still valid, maybe not as effective as you had intended these documents to be when you had them prepared.

Maybe the individual(s) you listed as the Executor of the Will or the Power of Attorney is no longer the most suitable individual to act in this capacity. Did you name any alternatives? If so, are they still someone you believe to be the best person to take on this role in the event your primary listed Executor or Power of Attorney is unable or unwilling to act in that role?

Perhaps at the time you had these documents prepared your children were not of legal age and as such you could not list them as the primary or secondary Executor or Power of Attorney. However, now your children may be at an age where you feel more comfortable designating these roles to them. If so, it is an exceptionally good idea to perhaps update these documents.

Maybe since the time your Will was prepared you have had more children that you would want added as beneficiaries in the Will.

All these are keys factors to consider and as such it is very vital to give your Will and Power of Attorneys another read every few years to ensure that these documents are reflective of your most current wishes.

Up to a certain number of changes to an existing Will can be done via a Codicil or you may just opt to have an entirely new Will done. For changes to a Power of Attorney, it is usually recommended to have an entirely new Power of Attorney prepared.

Please feel free to contact one of our lawyers should you have questions about this topic.

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Taimoor Qureshi is an Associate Lawyer at Kormans LLP. You can reach Taimoor here: tqureshi@kormans.ca. The information and comments herein are for the general information of the reader and are not intended as advice or opinion to be relied upon in relation to any particular circumstances. For particular application of the law to specific situations, the reader should seek professional advice. Kormans LLP cannot be responsible for the content of other sites. We expressly disclaim all liability with respect to actions taken or actions not taken based on content received from a third party website linked, directly or indirectly, to that of Kormans LLP.  The link to another site is not to be construed in any way as an endorsement of the host, the site or the information contained therein, nor is such link to be inferred as an association or affiliation with the host.