2 Easy Tips To Prevent The Government From Getting Your Assets When You Die

Currently, experts estimate that there are approximately 5 billion dollars in forgotten assets in Canada. These are assets where the asset holder, such as a bank or financial institution, loses track of where the owner is. This can happen when a person moves and fails to update their contact information with the financial institution.

In addition to funds kept in savings and checking accounts, credit card balances, term deposits, GICs and Canada Savings Bonds can be unclaimed. Additionally, bank drafts, money orders, certified checks and travellers checks may be not be claimed. In the case of the funds held by a financial institution, the institution will hold the funds for ten years and then turn them over to the Bank of Canada. If unclaimed eventually those monies end up in the hands of the government. Similarly, unclaimed assets in the form of bank drafts and money orders will end up in the possession of the Bank of Canada.

It is a good idea to check the Bank of Canada's Unclaimed Balances Registry at http://ucbswww.bank-banque-canada.ca/scripts/search_english.cfm to ascertain whether you have any unclaimed assets. Similarly, a competent estate trustee will check the registry to ascertain whether a deceased has any unclaimed assets.

Some experts believe that, with the growing use of electronic communications rather than paper communications including paper statements, more assets will be lost or forgotten which will affect the administration of estates. It is imaginable that these assets could include the assets listed above in addition to forgotten insurance policies and pensions.

We recommend that estate planning should include an inventory of assets either attached to a will as a codicil, referenced within a will or kept with the will for safekeeping. This inventory should, ideally, be created before any memory loss occurs. While the inventory may change over time due to increase or decrease of assets, it creates a starting point for the estate trustees to begin to realize assets and is especially important where assets might not be easily identified.

The content and the opinions expressed here is informational purposes only and does not constitute legal or professional advice. Nor does reading or commenting on it create a lawyer/client relationship with the author. I encourage you to contact me directly at adrianlawoffice@gmail.com if you have specific legal questions or concerns.

The author encourages you to share this article on social media.

Follow me on Twitter @gwendolynadrian

#EstateLaw