Elsa Koertig, 48, is a single mom and schoolteacher in Moose Jaw, Sask. She earns $65,000 annually and her daughter Ingrid is heading to university. Ingrid’s straight As and clean sweep of provincial and national science fairs caught the attention of Ivy League schools, and her heart’s set on Princeton. She’s earned generous scholarships, but even after factoring in RESPs, the family faces a $10,000 annual shortfall. Elsa’s coming off a messy divorce and is saddled with mortgage, car and other debt payments. But if she could access the $100,000 stock-and-bond portfolio her deceased parents left her in trust, she’d be able to send Ingrid to Princeton. Elsa’s foggy on the details. She knows how much is in the trust, and remembers her parents saying they wanted it to fund her retirement. Can she tap the trust sooner?
The CDA is a powerful tax-planning tool
Even though Canadian newcomers will no longer get a 60-month tax exemption for foreign assets, experts agree the issue is being blown out of proportion.
How to safeguard inheritance
Jim Love, the chair of the Royal Canadian Mint helped arrange the transfer of millions of dollars from the descendents of a former prime minister to offshore tax havens, CBC reports.
Doctors should do everything possible to keep a patient alive, no matter the medical circumstances, say growing numbers of Americans.
Clients with disabled family members often provide for their care in estate plans
The government may erase the tax benefits of the trusts.
How the process works
New Canadians are the fastest-growing segment in the country.