By Lydia Roseman
One of the goals of estate planning is
the management of assets while an individual is still alive but has lost the
ability to manage their assets on their own (commonly referred to as losing
capacity). We recommend coming up with a plan as to who will manage your assets,
and how, long before capacity becomes an issue.
Commonly, an individual getting close to
this stage and wanting help managing their assets will simply add a child, or
another trusted individual, as a joint owner of their assets. While this may
seem like a simple solution, this strategy is rife with issues.
This article will address some of the
issues with using joint ownership as a strategy for managing assets, both
during the original owner’s life and upon their passing. It will then discuss an
alternate asset management tool: the Enduring Power of Attorney or “EPA”, a
specialized legal document designed for precisely this situation.
Joint Ownership
Issues
during the original owner’s life
What do we mean by joint ownership? Joint
ownership occurs when assets are held jointly in two or more individuals’
names. For example, if a senior individual has a bank account and adds their
child to that bank account, they will become joint owners.
While the intent of this might simply be
to allow the child to pay bills on their behalf or make deposits or withdrawals,
the reality is much more complicated. Once both names are listed as “owners” of
the account, the legal assumption is that the account is equally owned by the
two individuals. The child then has equal authority to deal with those funds.
There is no automatic requirement that the child must use the funds solely for
the benefit of the parent.
This means that the child could
theoretically remove all funds from the bank account and it would be very
difficult or impossible for the parent, or another interested party, to reverse
these transactions.
Joint ownership also opens the asset to
potential claims of third parties as against the additional owner. For example,
if the joint owner declares bankruptcy, creditors may be able to realize
against the asset held jointly. Or, more commonly, if the joint owner goes
through a divorce (or a separation from an adult interdependent partner), their
partner may have a family property claim against the asset.
It is also extremely difficult to undo
the joint ownership as a whole. Once you have added someone to your bank
account, or title of your house, you cannot simply elect to remove them without
their consent. For all intents and purposes, they are an equal owner of the
property.
Finally, it can take significant time to transition
all of one’s assets into joint ownership. There is no one call to make or form
to submit to add another individual as a joint owner on all of one’s
assets. Each bank account, house, vehicle, or other investment or physical
asset would need to be dealt with individually.
Issues
following the original owner’s death
The other point to consider is what will
happen to the assets held jointly upon the original owner’s passing.
Once the original owner passes away, the
“right of survivorship” applies to make the other named individual the sole
owner of the asset. This means that the funds in the account will not form part
of the deceased’s “estate” and will not be distributed in accordance with the
Will. Instead, the property will become entirely the property of the joint
owner.
This means that an individual using the
joint ownership strategy can unintentionally cut a beneficiary out of a very
substantial part of their estate.
It may be possible for the remaining
beneficiary(ies) to argue before the Court that the deceased’s intent was not
to leave the asset entirely to the named individual but rather that the
funds are held in trust by that individual for the estate. However, without
some written documentation of the testator’s intent, this can be an extremely
challenging argument to make. Even if the spurned beneficiaries are ultimately
successful, this would mean a lengthy and expensive court battle and
unnecessary conflict between beneficiaries.
As the old saying goes, only two things
in life are certain, death and taxes. But what does death mean for taxes
when property is held as joint owners?
Let’s use the example of an individual
with two children whose substantial assets are a house and a bank account, both
of which are worth roughly the same value. The individual decides to put the
house in both his and his daughter’s names so that the daughter can help with
management of the house. To compensate for this, the individual is leaving the
entirety of the contents of the bank account to the son in his Will.
Upon the individual’s passing, Canada’s
tax rules deem the testator to have sold the house at its current fair market
value. There will likely be a large capital gain on the house, assuming it has
gone up in value since its purchase. These tax consequences will belong to the
deceased’s estate; they do not attach to the house.
This means that there will likely be a substantial
tax burden that must be paid out the estate’s remaining property, i.e. the bank
account. The end result is that the daughter gets the full value of the house
without paying any of the tax consequences, while the son is left only with the
funds in the bank account after the taxes have been paid. The tax
consequences could erode a substantial portion of the value left for the son.
This leads to the unintentional result of
a very unequal division of assets.
The Enduring Power of Attorney
An EPA is a legal document under which an
individual appoints an attorney to manage all their assets. The EPA is drafted
by a lawyer and is signed by an individual either to immediately take effect or
to take effect at some later date, once the individual has lost capacity.
We typically recommend drafting these
documents well in advance of loss of capacity with a future “triggering event”
which will bring the EPA into effect. This “triggering event” can be a
statement in writing of the testator intentionally bringing the document into
effect, or it can be a statement from one or more doctors that the testator no
longer has capacity to deal with their assets.
Following the coming into effect of the
EPA, the attorney is able to manage all of the owner’s assets. The most
important benefit is that the EPA will not affect the underlying ownership of
the assets. While the attorney has the ability to manage the estates, dispose
of them, buy new investments, etc., everything remains the property of the
original owner.
Further, the attorney owes a fiduciary
duty to the original owner meaning that the assets must be managed solely for
the benefit of the original owner.
There are also clear mechanisms for the
individual, or other family members or interested parties, to bring forward an
application to the Court if they believe that the attorney is mismanaging the
funds. The attorney is statutorily obligated to maintain records of how they
have dealt with the assets and the EPA can even build in reporting requirements
whereby the attorney has to keep other family members appraised of his or her
decisions. There is therefore much clearer and more substantial protection for
the original owner.
It is also possible to undo the coming
into force of an EPA. For example, if an individual temporarily loses capacity
due to a car accident, the EPA could come into effect. However, once that
individual regains capacity, if a medical professional declares that individual
competent, that individual can regain control over their assets.
Finally, the EPA will not impact the
distribution of property on the individual’s passing. As the assets never
become the attorney’s property, the assets will entirely be dealt with under
the deceased’s Will. This avoids unintentional unfairness between
beneficiaries.
Conclusion
In conclusion, there are many potential
issues when it comes to using joint ownership as a tool for asset management.
The joint ownership strategy puts the original owner at the mercy of the joint
owner, is almost impossible to unwind, and can lead to unintended consequences
for the ultimate beneficiaries of the individual’s estate.
We therefore strongly recommend using an
EPA as an estate management tool instead of relying on joint ownership. While
there is some up front cost to preparing an EPA, it gives the individual much
more control over how their assets will ultimately be managed. Importantly,
there are significant built in protections which require the attorney to manage
the assets for the benefit of the individual. Finally, the EPA does not impact
the underlying ownership of the assets avoiding any unintended consequences
upon the individual’s passing.
Our Wills & Estates team would be
happy to prepare an EPA for you and to answer any questions you may have. Remember,
it is never too early to start thinking about estate planning.