JUST DON'T DIE!!!!

Have you ever heard of the word Executor or Execturix.
If you haven’t start now to engrave these terms engraved in your cerebellum.
If you have and your name is used in the same sentence as either of the above, RUN!!!




Recently I found myself with that oh so glorious title, no pay and a ton of excitement. It was then that I decided to create my blog on being an Executor

Things to know:

1) Obtain not one, not two but 10 copies of the will and a photocopy wont do they need to be seen by every officials office that you need to visit,and they need to be notarized!

2) Death Certificates- get 20 better more than not enough. Every banker, government body that you deal with wants one and your out of town guests will want one for the air fare reduction and hotels

3) Now the fun begins you are well armed and you first want to cancel that Government Canadian Pension plan and Old age pension and apply for the survivor pension . The One form that cancels the CPP also cancels the AOS. The Survivor Pension is filled in one half by the executor and the second half by the surviving spouse. Oh and dig through you records you will need a NOTARIZED copy of the marriage certificate ( 1-800-277-9914)

4) Tax man will come and look for you , You will call the CRA and declare the death then write a letter to the Revenue Agency pledging that as an Executor you will be PERSONALLY RESPONSIBLE for the tax. You will once again include a notarized copy of the will as well as the death certificate. (1-800-959-8281)


YOU WILL SOON LEARN THAT EVERYTHING YOU DO WILL REQUIRE NOTARIZING!

5) If the deceased had a work insurance or are a Federal Employee with a Sunlife policy call the Sunlife number to alert them if there are any policies to be paid out. The general Sunlife number needs to be called to cancel the dental and medical policies, Spouses need to reapply for their own policies (1-800-757-7427)

6) Don’t forget to call the Pension Center for the Public Service commission if there was a pension held by the deceased (1-800-561-7930) You got it a death certificate and Notarized will!

7) Service Ontario – return the Health and Drug card and make sure you note those numbers because some one will ask later. You need to submit the death certificate only – DO you live in a large metropolis go to a suburb to do your paperwork smaller lines , less bodies. Take extra death certificates with you and will will get a receipt, Keep it close because some dang person is going to ask for it and you gave it away but if you have the numbers then you are in business

8) Service Canada- This is the office you would return the SIN number and your CPP paperwork. Make sure that it is well filled out before you get to the office and they will check it twice

9) Ok this is somewhere you are going to become familiar. GO to the bank that the person you are you are executor for used most unless of course you don’t live in the same
area. Open an estate account for the deceased and your profile will be referenced with that account. Go to every bank that you loved one may have done business, close account and consolidate those you find to the one estate account. Got stocks and shares to deal with- write a letter of direction , liquidate them into a cash estate account PRONTO

10) Check any online trading accounts and with any financial advisors , convert shares to cash, Hope to god the deceased may have cashed in their RIFF and RRSP if not just remember TAX>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> There goes the inheritance

11) If you think you missed something at a later date go to lostcash.ca Bank of Canada scoops up dormant accounts and holds them until claimed. So you find an account there and guess what? You need to prove that the decease lived where they did when they had that account, so you look and find that the account was in 1929 and they lived 5 states away? Looks for anything with an old address, a bill, will or any kind of documentation ...............

12) Credit Card, cancel all and remember when you do if there was a supplement card it too will be cancelled- any balance on these can be paid by the estate. You may hear from the surviving spouse Pretty Darn Quick when you eliminated their mode of spending



13) Estate account was designed to help pay funeral cost , Well what they don’t tell you or at least not at the bank I went to you can’t access it YET< you can set it up and you can bring the bills into the branch and they will make a cheque payable to those that are requiring payment You can’t get your hot little hands on the loot- so dig deep and remember to smile when you realize that job you came with is a costly one and hope you know that Uncle Fred left enough to pay the bills! 14) Next is probate This is one step you need a lawyer for, It is not a hard job so you don’t need to pay the worlds best, a junior lawyer will do. The deceased total worth ( not joint accounts) are taxes in a grab = to 1.5% + lawyer fees. I did not have to deal with realestate but apparently that is a lot more involved. Probates 6-8 weeks to process, once granted then you can open the coffers and pay the bills,inheritance etc 15) Registered funds, need to be informed of the deceased death and once probate has passed you can have the fund decommissioned and moved into a cash account, the same with shares sell the and convert to cash. If you want to sell shares before the probate period you can do so, but you need to have ANOTHER NOTARIZED FORM 16) TAX TIME - you obviously are still here and did not run fast enough. The year of death would be a regular tax. Once that is done then the estate or final tax is performed called a tax T3. Now lets just say that your Uncle was a popper or pooper- well did you know that the dead can't pay tax but you can! If the estate acrues more than $500 between the taxes of the previous year and when you close the account then a tax would be payable. And if greater than $500 then payable by the heirs who inherited the loot Executors you have your work cut out for you , any expenses you have and only you can be reimbursed by the estate your spouse is not to be refunded. SO whether you leave him/her on the tarmac is your problem, Keep great records because you know you are going to be audited. Lets face it you have an important job,no pay and they will haunt you for sure. Inform all beneficiaries of the accounting, and what they are entitled to as well as how the books look on your end. Once the beneficiaries are paid out you will want a release from them that they have been paid their inheritance. NOW what I didn’t know……… SO you went to the lawyer and you have this latest will, you know it is the right will and you are assured. READ IT and STUDY IT. If you are not comfortable with anything ask your lawyer. Make sure the beneficiaries that are listed on the current will match what you may be signing over. You know the old adage if it is stinks it is rotten. Take your job seriously and ask if you are in doubt. Paying a lawyer for a few hours is the smart thing to do…. Remember that you are responsible for anything that may come out of a poorly executed will, BEAWARE that Uncle Sam has your number and if you have dealt out the funds with out a sufficient hold back for taxes then guess who is paying Peter or wearing a nice stripped outfit! NOW if you think that funeral is pre paid- well maybe what they don't tell you is OOPS they did not include- flowers, music, eats and treats, Burial costs( that is to open the grave if you already own a plot), dvd's. Oh don't forget the obit with your loved ones pic - think again at the cost $200 difference between the pic and no pic, tax on prepaid service and embalming cost. And did you want any lettering on that tombstone? Get out your engraving pen $250 for four +++ numbers. And if your Uncle was not so thoughtful to die in summer just add another few hundred for opening the grave and weekends are extras and no Monday Senior Days SO do yourself a favor if you plan on dying, Give your executor advance notice $20K to do you up right, make sure absolutely everything is in joint names even if it is with Uncle Joe . Make sure that there absolutely no traces of the old will and update the beneficiaries. Now if you have reached the end of this post I know you did not RUN FAST enough! You will have to excuse me as I make a list and start calling my friends one by one to see who my VOLUNTEER is???? Any takers................