[.ca] Wills and Estates for Canadians for Dummies (ISBN 1894413172)

Amazon.ca:
There's nothing funny about death and dying. Yet the Wills and Estates for Canadians for Dummies Planning Kit faces myriad unpleasant estate planning topics with wit and humour. Covering wills, insurance, taxes, trusts, and more, the book is peppered with amusing case histories and anecdotes that most readers will find easier to relate to than the cold, hard facts. Many of them are twists on popular children's fairy tales or Shakespeare plays, which, replete with orphans and wicked stepmothers, are appropriate for parables about estate planning: "K. Lear of LearCorp…had three daughters, only one of whom, Cordelia, had what it takes to run a complex corporation. Although he knew this in his heart, he could not bring himself to exclude his other two children, who loved him very dearly (or so they said whenever he talked about the net worth of the corporation). So he told his daughters that he was going to leave control of the corporation to the three of them jointly.…" Many of us, unless we are rulers of the realm or captains of industry, believe our lives are too modest for estate planning. As it turns out, most individuals are subject to circumstances that affect their legacies, such as remarriages, children with special needs, or even wastrel offspring. A lot of professionals make their living from estate planning, and the lawyers, accountants, and trust companies don't always make it easy to understand the process. This book, written by two lawyers, serves as a translation device. For instance, the authors take you through a standard will line by line. "The first thing you'll notice is that it is not written in English. It's mostly written in Englatin, with some medieval French thrown in." They also throw in a bonus CD-ROM with interactive checklists and worksheets. While it's not pleasant to consider your own passing, Wills and Estates for Canadians for Dummies Planning Kit eases the burden, taking you from theory to practice, from why-to to how-to, and telling you what can possibly go wrong and how to solve it. --Edward Trapunski