Legal Services

All workshops are offered in a group of no more than thirty participants. All personal information shared with the lawyer is confidential. However, any information verbally disclosed in a group setting cannot be kept confidential. If you are concerned about confidentiality, please share additional information, and ask questions of the lawyer after the workshop.

After you have registered with A & O, you will receive a welcome package, that includes Planning Guides and an Estate Planning Workbook. • Fill out as much of the Workbook as you can and bring it with you to the first workshop • You will need one piece of government issued picture ID • Your preferred method of payment

• 1½ hour presentation • 30 min for questions

• You will receive a brief phone call to confirm your drafting instructions later that week • You will be required to attend 20-minute signing meeting two weeks following the initial workshop

Every person that will be preparing a Will, Power of Attorney, and Healthcare Directive must attend. If both spouses are having documents prepared, both spouses must be present and involved for the duration of the workshop.

To ensure the documents that are prepared for you are tailored to your needs, both you and your lawyer will need to have a good understanding of your personal and financial situation. We encourage you to review the Estate Planning Guide: Part I – Planning for Death (included in the welcome package) for a deeper understanding on how different types of assets are distributed at death. This information also helps the lawyer assess a person's capacity to make a Will and Power of Attorney. This assessment will ensure that your Will and Power of Attorney are not found to be void and of no effect.

Capacity is time and task specific. The best person to make a capacity assessment is often the lawyer who is making the Will, if they ask all the questions, they need to make a proper assessment. The Court routinely sets asides Wills when there is insufficient evidence of a person's capacity to make a Will. It is of the utmost importance that all information provided during the Estate Planning Workshop be truthful and complete.

No, you should not participate in the Estate Planning Workshop. In this situation you may wish to contact your lawyer or A & O to be directed to a lawyer that can provide you with a personalized estate planning service. This will allow for a more in-depth capacity assessment which will in turn decease the possibility that your documents will be contested, or that the Court invalidates them.

Bringing a person along with you is not a good idea. If you require assistance with your mobility, a support person can certainly wait for you in the waiting area. If there is a good reason why you feel that your friend or family member should attend with you, then a personalized estate planning service should be considered. If you do not have a trusted lawyer, A & O can direct you to a lawyer that can provide you with a personalized estate planning service.

We kindly request at least 48 hours notice if you will not be able to attend. Please contact A & O at 204-956-6440, or by e-mail info@aosupportservices.ca.

Anytime a lawyer is involved with the preparation of documents, their professional liability is engaged. Over the years, estate planning has become more complex, estates have become much larger, and rules regulating the legal profession have gotten more strict. For these reasons, lawyers need more time to ensure that they are providing competent and effective advice. Estate Planning is getting more expensive, because more is expected of the lawyer that is providing the service.

If you do not meet the eligibility criteria of the Estates Planning Workshop, that means your circumstance is not as simple as you thought. Your situation will require more attention than what will be covered within the context of the Estate Planning Workshop. We encourage you to reach out to your trusted lawyer, to assist you

Please contact 204-988-0370 or by e-mail at sbuisse@tmlawyers.com. to inquire about personalized estate planning services offered by Taylor McCaffrey LLP. Taylor McCaffrey LLP's fees for personalized estate services depend on the complexity of the estate planning needs, and the time required to create and finalize your estate planning documents.