Question
Fred Stone & Wilma Gravelle Fred Stone and Wilma Gravelle have been together as a couple for almost twenty years. They are not married and
Fred Stone & Wilma Gravelle
Fred Stone and Wilma Gravelle have been together as a couple for almost twenty years. They are not married
and have no intention of marrying. Fred was previously married to Betty and they had two children Emma (25) and Roger (21). Betty passed away when Roger was one year old. Fred is now 52 years of age and Wilma is 45
years of age. They had two children together alph (16) and Uter (14). Ralph has some cognitive and physical disabilities. He is eligible for the Federal disability tax credit.
Fred and Wilmas assets are summarized in the table below.
They have never done wills or Powers of Attorney.
When Betty passed away, she owned a cottage that was inherited from her mother. The cottage is very valuable and extremely important to the Stone family as a legacy item. She wanted it preserved for Emma and Roger and their eventual families. Betty also had her life insured for $1 million. This was paid to Fred when she died (see the TD Wealth account). Fred uses and needs the income from that money for his lifestyle with Wilma. He wants
the capital preserved for Emma & Roger.
Wilma is an entrepreneur and owns 75% of her own business, Bedrock Pool & Paving Stone. Fred owns 25% of the shares of the company. Bedrock installs pools, decks, driveways and sidewalks. Emma is the general manager of the company. The business is growing very quickly in value. It has doubled in value in the last five years and the projections are that it will be worth nearly $2 million by the end of 2021.
Additionally, their goals are:
As much as possible, to ensure that the lifestyle of the survivor is maintained should one partner away.
ESTATE PLANNING CASE WINTER 2021
Protect Ralphs interests in the estate plan;
Maintain family assets as mentioned in the description above;
Minimize taxation at death (including probate) but not at the expense of their other goals;
Fred & Wilmas assets are as follows:
Asset Owner Valuation Comments
Asset: London, Ontario home
Owner: Fred & Wilma as
tenants in common
(50/50)
Valuation: FMV $800,000
ACB $250,000
Comments: Principal residence, no
mortgage. Each party
contributed equally to
purchase price
Asset: RRSP at RBC
Owner: Fred
Valuation: FMV $700,000
ACB $230,000
Comment: No beneficiary named
Asset: RRSP at RBC
Owner: Wilma
Valuation: FMV $400,000
ACB $210,000
Comments: Uter & Ralph named as equal. beneficiaries
Asset: MoonLife Insurance Policy
Owner: Fred is the policy owner, Wilma is the life insured
Valuation: T-100 Policy
Face amount $450,000
Comments: No beneficiary named
Asset: Cottage in Muskoka
Owner: Fred
Valuation: FMV $3 million
ACB $250,000
Comments: Inherited from Bettys mother when she died
Asset: Non-registered investment account at
TD Wealth
Owner: Fred
Valuation: FMV $2.5 million
ACB $1 million
Comments: Insurance proceeds from Bettys death
Asset: Non-registered investment account at
CIBC
Owner: Wilma & Joe Gravelle, as joint tenants
Valuation: FMV $550,000
ACB $100,000
Comments: Inherited from their Grandmother when she passed away. Joe isWilmas brother
Asset: 2019 Lexus SUV
Owner: Wilma
Valuation: FMV $45,000
Asset: Western Duplex
Owner: Wilma
Valuation: FMV $450,000
ACB $225,000
Comments: Property is rented to students and nets about $1,400 month in
taxable income
Asset: Bedrock Pool and Patio Ltd.
Owner: Fred (25%) and Wilma (75%) common
shares
Valuation: FMV $2 million
ACB $50,000
Comments: No shareholders agreement, buy sell or life insurance
Required:
1.
Assume no changes to their current planning. Clearly explain and demonstrate the clients estate situation today
where Fred & Wilma are in a common accident and:
a.
Fred dies and Wilma survives;
b.
Wilma dies and Fred survives;
Be sure to discuss estate asset distribution and income taxation (not probate) caused by the deaths.
(Assume they are both in a 50% MTR at death).
2.
Fred and Wilmas tax advisor has suggested they may benefit from an estate freeze. Explain the concept
and benefits of an estate freeze for the Bedrock Pool and Patio Ltd. Shares to the clients (5 marks)
3.
Given how they currently own their various assets, what is the Ontario Estate Administration Tax
(probate) where:
a.
Fred dies and Wilma survives (2.5 marks)
b.
Wilma dies and Fred survives (2.5 marks)
4.
The couple has asked you to make some suggestions about their estate planning needs. They fully
appreciate you are not a lawyer but also know you have some understanding of the things they need to
consider and the solutions available to achieve their goals. They want you to:
a.
Identify and fully explain 3 different things they can do with a Will that will achieve their
planning goals (15 marks);
b.
Wilma has indicated she feels no need to do either a Power of Attorney for Personal Care or
Power of Attorney for Property. Using examples from her situation, discuss the merits of each
document
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